China and the US have jointly shut a chain of membership-based pornographic websites targeting Chinese-speaking audiences in China, the US and other countries.
Wang Yong, the websites' primary operator, was arrested in the US June 23 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), China's ministry of public security said in a statement Thursday.
In a simultaneous raid, Chinese police detained more than 10 people suspected of maintaining the websites in China, reported Xinhua.
Wang left China from Fujian province in January 2002 and has allegedly operated the illicit websites since 2007.
He eventually controlled 48 porn websites, making his the world's largest chain of pornographic websites as well as the chain serving the most Chinese-speaking users.
In China, 18 of Wang's websites offered child pornography, according to the ministry.
According to Chinese law, individuals convicted of producing, copying, publishing, selling or distributing pornography face 10 years to life in prison.
Chinese police kept a close eye on Wang's website chain, which had more than 10 million members, and arrested hundreds of the sites' administrators in China.
Nevertheless, police in China were unable to destroy the chain's source as its main servers and operators were based in the US.
{{/usCountry}}Nevertheless, police in China were unable to destroy the chain's source as its main servers and operators were based in the US.
{{/usCountry}}In April 2010, Chinese authorities and the FBI began cooperating on cracking down on the website chain.