Chinese authorities have investigated a total of 1,150 websites offering illegal information on sex-related articles and drugs since the launch of a national crackdown some 40 days ago, the State Internet Information Office said Wednesday.

The campaign, which has been under way since April 20, has uncovered websites claiming to be affiliated with renowned medical institutions.

Some websites have profited from selling counterfeit sex-related medicine and prescription medicine, the office said in a statement.

Other unregistered websites provided access to sex-related articles, the statement said.

Of these websites, 143 domestic websites have been shut down by authorities, while access to another 814 overseas-based sites has been blocked.

Some 176 websites have been ordered to discontinue any illegal practices, the statement said.

Authorities also uncovered 12 websites involved in the publication of illegal advertisements on sex-related articles and drugs and five websites providing links to such advertisements, and removed more than 1.1 million illegal postings from these websites, according to the statement.

The statement also said that the public is welcome to report websites offering access to illegal sex-related articles and drugs by calling 12377 or visiting net.china.cn.