The Chinese government is stepping up its internet censorship with a 14-month-long nationwide crackdown on devices that helps to bypass online censorship.

The campaign will mainly target virtual private networks (VPNs), a special technology that is widely used to evade internet censorship.  

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Henceforth, telecom and internet companies in China would not be allowed to install special lines such as VPNs without approval, according to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The statement further added that this "clean up" campaign would last until March 2018.

The ministry claims that such a crackdown is needed to "strengthen Internet information security management."

The announcement comes just as President Xi Jingping is busy promoting China at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, where he once again reiterated that China is committed to "opening up" to the world.

China's propensity to regulate internet has been a subject of widespread criticism. Critics have said that the government is curtailing its citizen's freedom of speech. Even big internet giants like Google and Facebook have had to limit their operation in the country due to strict online censorship.

However, online censorship has not been able to stop the growth of internet in the world's most populous country. According to China Internet Network Information Center, the country was home to 731 million users as of December 2016, making it the world's largest internet market.  

Lured by its enormous market size, big tech giants including Facebook have become less critical about China's internet censorship, hoping that this will pave the way for them to re-enter the Chinese market. 

TagsInternet censorship, china, china online censorship, china internet