China closes 3,300 Internet cafes - Tech News - CNET.com

China has shut more than 3,300 Internet cafes for safety reasons after a fire tore through an underground Beijing cafe in June killing 25 people and injuring 12 others, the official Xinhua news agency reported Friday.
Li Rongrong, minister in charge of China's State Economic and Trade Commission, was quoted as saying officials had inspected about 45,000 Internet cafes in the past six months.

Operations of nearly 12,000 of them had been suspended pending improvements and more than 3,300 were permanently closed, it said.

Security-obsessed China keeps tight controls on Internet cafes, driving many under ground, where they operate behind locked doors to avoid scrutiny.