More than 60,000 pornographic websites have been shut in China following a massive crackdown, authorities said.

Nearly 1.785 million websites have been checked since the launch of the campaign in December 2009 and some 2,197 cases of dissemination of online pornography have been dealt with during the crackdown, National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications said.

The office said it has received more than 160,000 porn-related tip-offs from the general public, state-run Xinhua reported.

"Spread of pornography has been effectively curbed and the Internet further purified," the office said.

China has the world's largest online population, with more than 420 million netizens.