China has pulled a sexually explicit movie from cinemas and banned its producer from making films for two years.

Lost in Beijing, which is set in a massage parlour in the city, had already been censored and released in cinemas ahead of the ruling.

It opened across the country on November 30 after scenes showing dirty streets, prostitutes and gambling were cut from the film.

However, it was banned after authorities claimed unapproved pornographic scenes were allegedly published on the internet and DVDs.

The ruling also said the movie was promoted with "unhealthy, improper" advertisements, believed to refer to the words "indulgent body, lost soul" on posters.

The $1.2 million production was screened at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2007 and won a jury prize at July's Bangkok International Film Festival.

Producer Fang Li denied illegally releasing the film, the censored version of which is available on DVD.

He told the Associated Press: "Why would I give the movie to pirates and hurt my own movie? We are the victims of piracy. We are the biggest victims."