Five adverts said to advertise cigarettes and broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV) have been banned by the market watchdog.

It is illegal in China to advertise cigarettes, or for adverts to contain references to cigarettes.

The companies involved were accused of including references to their own cigarette brands in adverts which should have promoted the firms in general.  

The advertisement monitor center with the Beijing Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce pulled the plug on the ads, the Beijing Times reported.

The cigarette brands involved were Jiaozi from southwest China's Sichuan Province, Yuetuchun from east China's Jiangxi Province, Yipinmei from east China's Jiangsu Province, Meideng from southwest China's Yunnan Province and Huangguoshu from southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Radio and TV programs, movies and articles in newspapers and magazines are not allowed to show cigarette adverts.

This was the second time in recent months that the center has banned suspicious adverts thought to highlight cigarettes.

In November last year, a TV advert by the Baisha Group based in central China's Hunan Province was stopped for allegedly publicizing cigarette products in the company's image advert.

The news caused a lot of debate as in the advertisement, Liu Xiang, the Chinese Olympic hero, represented the group.

Last month the center examined 135,100 adverts, on TV, radio, websites and in newspapers. Nearly 1,700 were suspected of being illegal, among which most were in the medical field, sources said.

(China Daily February 25, 2005)