A popular online forum co-sponsored by the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Institute of Chinese Studies has been ordered to shut down as mainland authorities move to tighten their grip on the internet.
Chinese University and the Beijing Zhongqing Future Community Culture Development Research Institute set up the Century China site in July 2000.
It issued an online notice yesterday saying it would be taken offline along with several forums popular among mainland intellectuals and students.
Century China hosted eight online forums, including Century Classroom - the most popular - which had attracted more than 30,000 registered members.
A Century China official said it had received an order on Monday from the Beijing Communications Administration and was scrambling to take the site offline yesterday.
Late last month, the Information Office under the State Council and the Ministry of Information Industry launched a crackdown specifically targeting search engines, online chat rooms and blog service providers.