Zhang Hongqiang was found guilty this week of violating the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China for his participation in hosting and spreading online pornography. The court sentenced him to 10.5 years' in prison, removed his political rights for two years, and fined him CNY20000.

Local press are reporting that having failed to find a satisfactory job after college graduation, in October 2003, the 23-year-old Zhang rented a server and started a website named "Adult Empire" which he later moved to another server he rented in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. He bought some pornographic disks from local markets and after recording and copying, he sold the fabricated disks on his website at prices ranging from CNY10 to CNY50 each.

By July 2004, when authorities discovered his activities, he had already fabricated over 1380 disks and sold more than 700 such disks to buyers from 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China.

Zhang is a native of Shandong Province and was living in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, when he was apprehended.