Internet firms 'must obey rules'

Foreign websites must abide by Chinese laws and its Internet management policies, if they want to operate in the country, a top official said on Tuesday.

Wen Ku, director of the telecom department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said the government is committed to the healthy development of the Internet sector in China, which is already the biggest in the world with about 650 million users, and has taken several steps to regulate the industry.

Wen's comments follow reports that China has recently blocked access to several virtual private networks, a service that allows users to access websites that are currently unavailable on the Chinese mainland,