Beijing is to crack down illegal outdoor advertising.

Fly posters and large billboard adverts have proliferated along the capital city's teeming roads on lamposts, telegraph poles and other urban furniture.

The Beijing Municipal Administration Commission issued a notice Sunday ordering those companies responsible to tear down the illegal advertising banners within three days or face stiff penalties.

The new regulation also orders government organizations to make known their outdoor advertisement plans by December 15.Illegal ads will be demolished if they are not sanctioned.

Individuals and companies who refuse to comply will face a fine up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,200).

While some say advertisements are harmless, most see them as tawdry and tasteless.The Shanghai municipal government has also launched a fight against unsightly billboards in a bid to cut "visual pollution" in the city.

Work has already begun on dismantling old advertisement boards.

Beijing is divided into areas where outdoor advertisements are strictly forbidden and areas where only certain advertisements are allowed.

Specifically, outdoor advertisements are forbidden around Tian'anmen Square, Zhongnanhai -- the headquarters of the Communist Party of China and the State Council -- Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, foreign embassies, governments and schools, scenic spots and cultural heritage sites.Buses and cars emblazoned with advertisements will not be allowed to pass the Tian'anmen Square or drive on the several streets surrounding the area.

Advertisements are also forbidden at interchanges or overpasses.

The Beijing Municipal Administration Commission is in charge of the bidding of advertising franchise at the city's expressways, ring roads, capital airport, railway stations and economic development zones.

Last month, the two-year use rights of 29 billboards along the east section of the Fifth Ring Road and the Beijing-Chengde Expressway were sold at a total of 26.5 million yuan (US$3.2 million).

Rent from legal advertising space will boost the municipal fiscal revenue.

Source: China Daily