China's Internet watchdog has taken the rare step of commenting on an ongoing court case by issuing a statement about a controversial online pornography trial.

Four executives from Shenzhen Qvod Technology Co are accused of distributing porn for profit and may face up to 10 years in prison.

During their trial at Haidian District People's Court in Beijing, held on Thursday and Friday, prosecutors said the defendants knowingly allowed users to upload and download illicit videos to the now-defunct Qvod website. All four deny the allegations.