In May 2011, customs at Shanghai Pudong International Airport stopped the export of a batch of uncensored 14-inch world globes. The maps on the globes did not mark the islands in the South China Sea, the Diaoyu Islands, and the Chiwei Islet as Chinese territories, the administration said in a statement.

The companies in charge of the export of the globes received a warning from the local government but escaped punishment because the globes did not reach overseas markets and therefore did not create a negative influence, said the statement.

In a separate case, the Chinese edition of National Geographic magazine published maps that did not mark the islands in the South China Sea, the Diaoyu Islands, and the Chiwei Islet as Chinese territory. The incorrect maps appeared in the first five editions of 2010, and in the third and sixth editions of 2011.

Li Qinggong, deputy secretary-general with the national security policy commission of the China Association of Policy and Science, said mapping geographical information should be strictly regulated because it is a kind of State practice as opposed to an individual activity.

"Problematic maps with wrong information about borders could trigger diplomatic disputes, or even diplomatic protests," he said. "It would cause grave effects if some of the territories were missed in the maps."

There are nearly 300 agencies nationwide qualified to provide online mapping services. The mapping administration has suspended the mapping services of 65 websites that did not have the relevant qualifications, according to a statement of the administration.

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