广电总局日前下发《关于加强电视动画片播出管理的通知》，规定自今年5月1日起，全国各级电视台所有频道不得在17：00-21：00的时段播出境外动画片、介绍境外动画片的资讯节目以及展示境外动画片的栏目，禁播时段比原来规定的时间延长了一个小时。

The ban on foreign cartoons broadcast during prime time TV will be extended by one hour in a bid to "spur the domestic cartoon industry", the broadcasting authority has said.

In a circular made public by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) on Tuesday, from May 1, foreign cartoons will be banned on all domestic cartoon channels and children's channels between the hours of 5 and 9 pm.

The initial ban, imposed in August 2006, applied to the period between 5 and 8 pm.

Cartoons co-produced by domestic and foreign firms will have to get approval from the SARFT to air between 5 and 9 pm. Only domestic cartoons approved by the SARFT or provincial broadcasting authorities can be aired during the "golden hours", it said.

The ban "will create a favorable environment for the domestic cartoon industry," the circular said.

China's cartoon industry produced almost 1,700 hours of animation last year, up 23 percent on 2006, it said.

The first foreign cartoon - Japan's Astro Boy series - was introduced to China in 1981.

In 2000, a SARFT regulation required local TV stations to get approval from the administration and set quotas for imported cartoons aired on TV. At that time, the cartoon industry was almost monopolized by Japanese products.

In 2004, the SARFT issued a second regulation that said at least 60 percent of cartoon programs aired must be domestically made.

In September 2006, the SARFT imposed the 5 to 8 pm ban on all foreign cartoons.

Also on Tuesday, the SARFT criticized Guizhou Radio Station (GRS) for continuing to broadcast "obscene" sex programs it had earlier banned. It ordered the immediate halt of the illegal programs and called for those responsible to be punished by the local government.

The GRS programs "willfully played on sexual themes and exaggerated the effects of sex-enhancement drugs", the SARFT said.

It issued a series of bans last year on vulgar and horror videos and audio products, and advertisements with sexual themes and those that make exaggerated claims about the efficacy of medical products.

On Sept 13, the SARFT banned 13 local radio stations in Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guizhou and Hainan provinces including GRS from airing sexually suggestive programs.

On Nov 12, however, GRS changed the name of one its of sex-theme programs and resumed broadcasts.

The SARFT ordered the station to stop airing the show and began disciplinary action against the staff involved.

However, the station relaunched the program in January, prompting the latest action by the broadcast authority.

（Xinhua）

（英语点津Celene编辑）