At least five online data storage provider said that the Chinese government ordered them to close down their services, South China Morning Post reported. The move represents the country's extensive implementation to control online content in the mainland.

The initiative was unveiled on the same period after Apple's iTunes and DisneyLife were discreetly shut down following the government's new regulation implemented last March. The new rule covers different online publication of original or adapted works such as videos, games, and audio recordings.

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According to the National Working Group Against Pornography and Illegal Productions, the online storage service providers were allegedly major avenues for online pornographic materials. They also sell storage accounts with such illegal contents.

Major online storage providers KuaiPan and Vdisk announced their official closure of free personal storage services, while Alibaba's UC net disk said it will totally shut down its entire service.

Meanwhile, other companies including Dongguan-based "115" and Tencent's Weiyun said they will respectively switch off their file-sharing functions.

"It is impossible for us to see the uploaded content and it costs enormous resources to censor them when those files are shared," said Lai Linfeng, Guangdong 115 Technology founder and CEO.

On the other hand, Lai clarified that the government did not ask to close their website but to be responsible and eliminate illicit contents.

China's personal web storage users soared from 380 million in 2014 to 450 million in 2015, which is half of the 688 million internet Chinese users, China Internet Network Information Center said.

Beijing is intensifying its efforts to establish a cleaner and healthier internet environment. It even targeted personal data storage services. During the first quarter of the year, China shut down more than 1,000 illegal websites for spreading pornographic contents and information that threatens national security.

Tagschina, online data storage provider, apple, iTunes, Vdisk, KuaiPan, Alibaba, UC net disk, Dongguan 115, Tencent, Weiyun, censorship, China Internet Censorship, Great Firewall of China, the great firewall