The Guangzhou Health Bureau issued a regulation to the city's hospitals on Tuesday saying they should report to and get approval from the health department two days before releasing information to the media.

Hospitals giving interviews to the media should get approval two days in advance, according to the regulation.

"It is designed for us, as a governmental health organization, to better know about what hospitals are going to promote or what has happened there," Zhou Guosheng, Party secretary of the bureau, was quoted as saying by Guangzhou-based Information Times.

Zhou said that the new rule also aims to prevent incorrect information from being released by hospital staff.

"Some doctors appeared to be very talkative in speaking to the media when it was not the right occasion for them to speak," said Zhou, adding that this situation had a negative impact on the regular operation of their hospitals.

However, an unnamed official with the bureau told China Daily on Friday that the new regulation will be applied only to the case of unexpected accidents in hospitals.

"It means that for other regular releases or interviews they are not required to report to us," the official said.

The official said that the bureau has not made any move to withdraw the regulation, despite opposition from media organizations in the city.

Local media have expressed negativity to the regulation since it was issued.

And some hospitals believed it was important information be released to the media on time.

"To some degree it will reduce how active we are in speaking to reporters," said Zhang Cuiling, an official with the Guangzhou Baiyun Psychology Hospital.

Du Huizheng, a journalism professor with the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, also viewed it as "a move depriving the information rights of the public and the media."

"Health information should not be delivered to the public only by the health department," said Du, adding that the new regulation has interfered with the rights of both the media and the public to be informed of the latest information.

"Doctors, though they work for hospitals, should not be deprived of the right to speak to the media," Du told China Daily on Friday.

Moreover, it will also have a negative impact on delivering information to the public on time, according to Du.

"The public have the right to know the latest information about health developments through the media, especially when some unexpected accident happens," Du said.