Chinese police have arrested a man for allegedly profiting from a self-produced Internet game involving cyber sex, a spokesman with the Ministry of Public Security said on Wednesday.

By the time Dai was arrested on June 5, he had made more than 30,000 yuan (US$3,900) from the game's 700 paying players, the spokesman said.

A failed Internet company manager, Dai invented a porn cyber game featuring human sexual activity in March and set up a paid website to promote the game, dubbed "Girlfriend Hut".

"In recent years, Internet games have become a booming and profitable market, but some games with a sexually explicit nature are corrupting China's vast number of young players," the spokesman said.

Police investigators found that Dai's website had attracted more than 200,000 registered members before it was stopped.

The Chinese government have taken a series actions to protect the young from the negative effects of on-line gaming, including introducing an anti-addiction system and ordering a crackdown on "vice content" providers.

The number of Internet users in China reached 123 million in mid-2006. About 15 percent -- or 18 million -- are under the age of 18.

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2007)