China blocks access to movies and books on Apple’s iTunes

The iPhone-maker was an exception to Chinese scrutiny of US firms but it seems to have attracted enough attention for Beijing to push back and stop the company from capturing too much market share or wield too much influence in the market

Apple’s uninterrupted dream run in China may be over as the Chinese State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television blocked access to movies and books sections on iTunes just after six months it was launched.

The iPhone-maker was an exception to Chinese scrutiny of US firms but it seems to have attracted enough attention for Beijing to push back and stop the company from capturing too much market share or wield too much influence in the market.

According to a New York Times (NYT) report, Apple had the initial permission to introduce the services. But then the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, asserted its authority and demanded the closings, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“We hope to make books and movies available again to our customers in China as soon as possible,” an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement adding that it was the company’s second-largest market after US

As soon as the blocks were announced, President Xi Jinping of China, who has always been against Western ideology, conducted a meeting on Tuesday in Beijing on China’s restrictive Internet policies. China’s top tech leaders, including Jack Ma, chairman of the e-commerce company Alibaba, and Ren Zhengfei, head of Huawei, were present at the meeting.

“China must improve management of cyberspace and work to ensure high-quality content with positive voices creating a healthy, positive culture that is a force for good,” a report by the state-run news service Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.