China to clean up seedy entertainment industry
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-15 15:44

China has issued strict guidelines that aim to clean-up the nation's increasingly seedy entertainment venues amid a rise in prostitution, gambling and drug use.

Government officials will be banned from opening karaoke bars, video game parlors and other entertainment venues, according to guidelines published by the People's Daily.

Relatives of officials in the cultural and public security departments, which are in charge of overseeing the entertainment industry, will also be banned from any involvement.

Officials caught running such businesses or not stopping their relatives from doing so will face punishment, including dismissal, according to the regulations issued by the State Council, China's cabinet.

The rules, which will go into effect on March 1, also forbid gambling, prostitution and other illegal activities at the premises.

Venues will not be able to use pirated material, such as songs for karaoke bars or video games, and the content of the material cannot harm state security or incite ethnic hatred.

Entertainment venues will not be allowed near residential areas, schools, libraries, hospitals and warehouses that store hazardous chemicals.

Nightclubs and other venues' VIP suites must have transparent windows and doors and should not have a lock that can be locked from the inside, according to the new regulations.

Business will be prohibited from operating from 2:00 am to 8:00 am, while minors will be banned from working at or visiting the sites. Currently there are few restrictions on opening hours.

Security must be increased, and venues will be required to install closed circuit televisions on the premises. They also cannot exceed national noise pollution control levels.

In recent years, rising incomes has sparked the growth of the entertainment industry. Many venues either turn a blind eye to, or facilitate, crimes such as prostitution and drug abuse. Violations of intellectual property rights have also been on the rise.

The cultural and entertainment industry is a big money-spinner, with public consumption in the sector reaching 700 billion yuan (86.6 billion dollars) in urban areas alone in 2004.

Safety violations, meanwhile, have often led to deadly fires.

In two of the deadliest incidents, 309 youngsters were killed in a Christmas fire at a disco in central China's Henan province in 2000, and 24 youngsters were killed at an Internet cafe in Beijing in 2002.

The businesses were found to have poor safety standards, with blocked exits, barred windows, locked doors and no fire extinguishers.