China censors Winnie the Pooh from online searches after photo emerges of president Xi Jinping that makes him look like the children’s favourite

President Obama and President Xi Jinping pictured on a stroll at a summit in California



Blogger posted two pictures side-by-side on Chinese social media site



China's strict censorship laws kicked in when picture was swiftly deleted



He is a beloved fictional bear described as having 'very little brain' who lives on a diet of honey and is best friends with a piglet.

But when a trivial comparison was made between China's President Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh, the country's strict censorship laws swung into action.

A picture of Xi Jinping walking with Barack Obama at a California summit was published on the Chinese social media site Weibo.

Harmless: The shot of the Presidents at a summit in California captures them in a pose similar to Winnie the Pooh and his friend Tigger



It was placed next to an illustrated image of Winnie the Pooh and his pal Tigger, who have been drawn in a similar pose to the politicians.

Comments that were posted on the blog were removed and the picture was deleted by website monitors.

Despite being removed form the site, the images went viral, with critics saying over-zealous censors had misread the frivolous comparison.



Th Daily Telegraph reports that Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post said censors had 'nipped in the bud what could have been a positive PR campaign tailor-made for President Xi Jinping.'

The Communist Party's censors are known for interfering with even the most minor of government



criticism on social networking sites.

Perhaps they agreed with Tigger's catchphrase, 'The wonderful thing about Tigger is I'm the only one'.

The blogger, called Nicaragua Rabbit posted the two pictures on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, on Tuesday.

Relaxed: The Presidents waved to the cameras while on a casual stroll in Sunnylands estate, California Unflattering: Censors were not happy with the idea that China's President is similar in any way to the fictional bear, who is known for getting his paws stuck as he scoops out pots of honey

According to WantChinaTimes, Nicaragua Rabbit posted the censor's message response: 'the post is inappropriate to be published'.

The blogger wrote, 'Little secretary (webmaster) is stingy and lacks of sense of humor'