More than 3,000 entertainment venues in Guangdong province suspected of involvement in the sex trade have been closed since authorities launched a crackdown on the illegal industry early last month, a top leader from the province said on Wednesday.

Hu Chunhua, Party chief of Guangdong, said during the annual session of the National People's Congress that up to 30 officials in the province also had been removed or punished after they were found to be involved in the sex trade.

Local authorities launched a province-wide crackdown on the illegal sex industry after a China Central Television report on Feb 9 said that many venues, including hotels and bath salons in Dongguan, a traditional manufacturing and trade city in Guangdong, had been involved in prostitution.

"The government was partly responsible for the rampant prostitution. Officials who are found to provide protection to the sex trade will be severely punished," Hu said.

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