Apple removes illegal lottery apps from China store

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Apple says it has pulled illegal lottery applications from its App Store in China.

According to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the company has recently pulled around 25,000 apps from its Chinese store – about 1.4 percent of all apps it provides in the country.

Apple confirmed it has recently removed gambling apps from its store, but did not confirm the number of apps or a timeline for the removals.

"We have already removed many apps and developers for trying to distribute illegal gambling apps on our App Store, and we are vigilant in our efforts to find these and stop them from being on the App Store," the company said in a statement.

A woman looks at the screen of her mobile phone in front of an Apple logo outside its store in Shanghai, China, July 30, 2017. /Reuters Photo

According to some developers, recently, it takes longer for their apps to show up on the App Store, showing a stricter review by the company. The developers added that they understand Apple's concern over the legality of apps' content.

App stores run by other companies, including China's Baidu and Tencent, are also required to remove gambling apps.

Chinese authorities have released an announcement on strengthening management of Internet live streaming industry these days, for the first time clarifying the responsibility of live streaming hosts, Internet service providers, and application stores, as another effort to build a healthy Internet environment.

(Top image: An attendee uses a new iPhone X during a presentation for the media in Beijing, China, October 31, 2017. /Reuters Photo)

(With inputs from Reuters)