China won't adopt a film rating system for the moment, the publications watchdog said.

Liu Binjie, General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) director, told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday that the country will not take the measure until "the market has been completely standardized", the New Express report.

There were two major concerns for the decision, he said. First, film rating was still a topic "too sensitive" for the general public. Secondly, China had yet to build a mature and orderly film market.

"Under the current circumstances, a film rating system equals legalizing the mass production of pornographic publications," Liu said.

The proposal of a rating system was first raised in 2001 by Wang Xingdong, a movie director and a then-member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The proposal, however, has failed to come to anything over the years.

A new round of debate was ignited late last year with the release of Ang Lee's award-winning film "Lust, Caution".

Containing bold sex scenes, the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion winner for Best Picture was cut by seven sexually explicit minutes for its screening on the Chinese mainland. Critics argued it wouldn't have had to be tailored if the country had a rating system.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2008)