Image caption The PLA is the largest army in the world

China has banned its 2.3 million soldiers from internet blogging, state media report.

A new regulation prohibits the People's Liberation Army (PLA) from creating websites or blogs, citing confidentiality concerns, the official Xinhua news agency says.

China operates vast internet censorship, dubbed the "great firewall of China".

Websites deemed sensitive by the government are routinely blocked.

"Soldiers cannot open blogs on the internet no matter (whether) he or she does it in the capacity of a soldier or not," Xinhua quoted Wan Long, a political commissar of the PLA, as saying.

"The internet is complicated and we should guard against online traps".

The directive, which went into effect on 15 June, also banned military employees from placing job-hunting or lonely hearts advertisements in the media.