Starting 9/1, foreign cartoons like The Simpsons and Blues Clues will no longer be allowed on prime time Chinese television:

Regulators have forbidden the broadcast of any foreign cartoons between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. in order to shore up the country’s fledgling animation studios, according to Chinese newspaper reports.

The restriction is part of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s effort to control foreign pop-culture influences, which has led to a number of limits on movies, websites and magazines in recent years.

“The viewing masses, whether adults or children, will have no choice but to passively support Chinese products,” said the Southern Metropolis News in an editorial published Sunday.

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