Apple is currently offering an iPhone app for massage services which could be a guide to prostitution, even though this is illegal in China.

The Dongguan Massage Guide debuted on Apple's online store last Friday. It leads users to massage services which are believed to offer prostitution in the south Chinese city known for its massage parlors and beauty salons.

The application costs 30 yuan (US$4.76) in China's App Store and US$4.99 in the US store.

"With only a taxi price (30 yuan), you can know details of clubs and services," Peng Lizhang, the app's developer, says in its description.

Using the app, people can find the names and locations of the massage clubs, the number of women in each and the number of those women who are "specially recommended." Users can call the clubs directly through the application.

That Apple has approved such an application with such obvious pornographic content reflects badly on its examination team, according to TechWeb, an IT forum and information website.

Dongguan, in Guangdong Province, attracts many people from neighboring Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong cities, as well as executives on business trips, according to online forums.

It could be some time before Apple deletes the application. It advises users to report problems through appstorenotice@apple.com and promises action only after an investigation finds something wrong.

Developers promise to obey local laws and policies when they sign up with Apple to upload applications, under Apple's policy.

Users seem to have welcomed the application with reviews on the App Store saying it "will be extremely useful" or "it will be better with uploading pictures of ladies." Some online forums have provided free downloads of the app.

The existence of the massage app reflects the limits of Apple's regulation of the store, industry insiders said.

The App Store is the world's No. 1 mobile application store with more than 500,000 applications.

"We are watching the pornographic content and such 'guide' posts very carefully," said an online regulator of lifestyle forum KDS, who didn't want to be named.

KDS doesn't allow posts with contact information of entertainment venues and it blocks all posts about massage clubs that are suspected of being involved in prostitution.

"Usually we don't allow such posts to appear or we will delete them in minutes," said the regulator. In comparison, Apple's regulation team is based in the United States, is not familiar with the Chinese situation and often reacts slowly.