(Yicai Global) April 16 -- China’s internet regulator intensified its remedial measures against websites with illegal content and those guilty of unlawful acts during the first quarter, in all terminating the operations of 816 illicit sites.

It also called in 1,143 site operators for a grilling, warned 848 of them, and suspended the updates of 117, according to the data the Cyberspace Administration of China released today.

These law-breaking sites illegally provided news services over the internet, displayed lewd and pornographic content, offered gambling or engaged in fraud or illicit agent services such as essay ghost writing, the country's Cyberspace Administration stated on its official account on Tencent Holding’s popular WeChat messaging app, adding it has collectively sent 3,520 items of evidence regarding these cases to prosecutors.

The regulator likewise met with executives at China’s Quora-style question-and-answer site Zhihu and social-networking portal Douban, after their users posted information that flouted the rules. These two platforms also swallowed fines of CNY200,000 (USD28,243) and CNY250,000, respectively. Chinese e-tailers Taobao under Alibaba Group Holding, JD.Com and Pinduoduo also chatted with the regulator about selling videos with lewd content and unlicensed commodities and were required to correct these problems within a strictly limited period.

China's Cyberspace Administration made public the rules covering the management of online information, content and ecologies in December to further improve China's network governance system, which officially began its implementation from March 1. These are China's first specific and executable regulations and standards on the administration of the online environment.

Editor: Ben Armour