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Attempts by
Reuters on Friday to access Apple's iBooks Store and iTunes
Movies services were met with a message in Chinese saying they
were "unusable".
China's media regulator, the State Administration of Press,
Publication, Radio, Film and Television, demanded Apple halt the
service, the New York Times reported, citing two unnamed people.
The regulator did not respond to a faxed request from Reuters
for comment.
"We hope to make books and movies available again to our
customers in China as soon as possible," said a Beijing-based
Apple spokeswoman, who declined to provide further comment.
This is not the first time an Apple service has been made
unavailable in China.
The company's News app, launched last year, can be used in many
countries by people who downloaded the app from the U.S., United
Kingdom or Australia App Stores. But those people trying to
access the service on the mainland are shown the message "News
isn't supported in your current region".
The Apple spokeswoman in Beijing said News had only launched in
the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia, but declined to comment
on how the app could still be used in places like South Korea
and Hong Kong but was blocked in mainland China.
Apple's second-largest market by revenue is Greater China, which
includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, driven by the iPhone's popularity
in the world's biggest smartphone market.
But the company has at times met with official resistance from
Beijing, with state media once branding the U.S. tech behemoth's
iPhone a danger to national security.
In March, regulations came into effect that prohibit foreign
ownership and joint ventures in online publishing and stipulate
that all content be stored on servers in China. The move sparked
fear of greater curbs on foreign businesses.
In an effort to shape public opinion, President Xi Jinping's
government has implemented an unprecedented tightening of
internet and media controls and sought to codify the policy
within the law, a campaign that critics say ignores human rights
and is a burden for business.
Earlier this month, the U.S. labeled China's internet censorship
a trade barrier in a report for the first time since 2013,
saying worsening online restrictions are damaging the business
of U.S. companies.
Officials say internet restrictions are needed to ensure
security in the face of rising threats such as terrorism and
foreign ideology that could destabilize China.
(Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom, Julia Love in San
Francisco and James Pearson in Seoul; Editing by Ryan Woo and
Nick Macfie)
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