The Chinese government has announced new measures to control information on the Internet.

The regulations published in the People's Daily formally extend China's state secrets law to the Net.

They say that all users must gain approval from agencies protecting state secrets before publishing previously unreleased material on the web.

The Chinese government maintains widespread powers over the interpretation of what constitutes a state secret and, in practice, the designation can apply to anything relating to official government information.

The BBC Beijing correspondent says the announcement is a further sign of official anxiety at the growing popularity of the Internet in China.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service