The new regulation bars search engines from collecting, disseminating or linking to any websites with “illegal or inappropriate” content, and that includes all pornography.
"[The Internet Society of China] should make sure that the self-discipline pact is well implemented to further crack down [on] Chinese web porn and promote a healthy environment on the Internet," said Cai Ming, deputy director of the State Council Information Office.
The Internet Society of China is the official industry group run by the Ministry of Information Industry.
China has shut down more than 1,000 online adult websites, as well as those that focus on superstition and religious cults, this year in response to public reports made over the government’s Reporting Center for Illegal and Harmful Information.