Police in China's capital said they will start patrolling the web using animated beat officers that pop up on a user's browser and walk, bike or drive across the screen warning them to stay away from illegal internet content.

Starting September 1, the cartoon alerts will appear every half hour on 13 of China's top portals, including Sohu and Sina, and by the end of the year will appear on all websites registered with Beijing servers, the Beijing Public Security Ministry said in a statement today.

China stringently polices the internet for material and content that the ruling Communist Party finds politically or morally threatening.