China has ordered authors to reveal their real names when publishing their works, a move writers regard as another crackdown on the press.

A new set of guidelines on online literature released this month by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television will require all authors to register their real names, along with their publishing platforms.

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Under the guidelines, online writers will still be allowed to use their pen names. The difference is that the government can now track them.

Many Chinese writers and bloggers use pen names to shield themselves from scrutiny, particularly when their works are deemed critical of the government.

Zhou Shuren, one of China's most influential writers, is known as Lu Xun to most readers.

Guan Moye, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, published works under the name Mo Yan.

The guidelines stressed that linking the real identities of writers to their works will encourage them to write responsibly, as well as strengthen their "professional moral education and training."  The guidelines also aim to promote healthy online literature and prevent plagiarism. 

One writer looks at the guidelines from another point of view.

"It is very clear that the government is taking these measures with the intention of suppressing online creativity," writer Murong Xuecun said. Murong's real name is Hao Qun.

State media Xinhua reported, the guidelines were issued in response to statements made by President Xi Jinping urging artists to spread "Chinese values".

The report said the guidelines are not expected to affect legitimate online authors with contracts under their real names.

Michel Hockx, author and a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, said amateur writers who do not hold contracts are most likely the target of the new guidelines.

"For these amateur writers, real-name registration might be a deterrent, especially if they work in genres such as the various forms of erotic fiction that are on the borderline of what is permissible," Hockx said.

Several online publishing platforms have already begun requiring real-name registration.

The government has tight controls over the traditional press.  It has been trying to craft measures to control social media since 2012.    

The government has also announced plans to extend real-name registration to websites that host videos and instant-messaging tools like Weixin, owned by Tencent.

Tagspress freedom, Press clampdown