China: 1.3 million websites shut in 2010

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said there were were 41% fewer websites at the end of 2010 than a year earlier.

Civil rights campaigners have long railed against China's web censors, who impose controls known as the Great Firewall of China.

A number of websites are routinely blocked, such as the BBC's Chinese language service, and social media sites like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.