Ad agencies decry billboard ban

Advertising professionals in Kunming are complaining about city officials tearing down all outdoor advertising billboards within the urban area for safety reasons.

In July, advertising companies in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, received a notice issued by the city urban administration bureau. It informed companies that city authorities would dismantle all of the 245 outdoor advertising billboards in the urban area by the end of November, the China Youth Daily reported yesterday.

Authorities said that the billboards were installed without permission or failed to meet safety standards. Among them, 54 billboards did not have an installation license, and the licenses of 153 billboards had expired. But the licenses for 38 billboards were valid, the report said.