Video sites told to clean up cartoons

China on Monday ordered video sites to clean up cartoons recently uploaded online that use iconic cartoon characters in sexual and violent situations.

The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications said in a statement on Monday that it had launched a nationwide campaign to crack down on the harmful videos.

"We'll keep an eye out for whether those websites carry out self-examination and clean up the videos. Any company that fails to fulfill its corporate responsibility and continues distributing the videos will be severely punished," it said.