A furious China has shut down over 1,600 Internet cafes and arrested people in a bid to curb the menace of content which is harmful to public morality.

The Chinese government cracked down on cybercafes that allowed its users to surf violent and pornographic content and fined the operators close to $12 million.

Since March 2004, government officials have inspected over 1.8 million cybercafes and frowned upon those who seek out violent Net games to play, surf adult sites or access 'subversive foreign content.'

While the officials have permanently closed down 1,600 cybercafes, another 18,000 cybercafes have been shut down for 'rectification,' say reports.

China's culture monitors have been particularly harsh on cafes that allow porn, gambling, violence and subversive material, saying that such activities are adversely affecting the healthy growth of Internet in China.