For more on this topic, I'm now joined in the studio by my colleague Han Peng.

Q1. Han Peng, Are there any legal regulations on the content of advertisement in China? Tell us more about the Chinese Law.

A1. Yes, in fact, the country's newly revised advertising law has given clear provisions and legal responsibility for such circumstances.

According to the law's Article 9 regulation. The contents of any advertisement shall not carry information of ethnic, racial, religious or sexual discrimination.

And the law also clarifies the legal responsibility if an advertisement violates the provisions of Article 9. The organ in charge of advertising supervision and control shall order the advertisement to be halted.

And the advertiser, advertising agent and advertisement publisher can be held responsible, while authorities can confiscate their advertising charges. A fine which could be up to 1 million yuan may also be imposed. And if the circumstances are serious, their advertising business can also be shut down.

Q2. Do you think the advertisement in question reflects a lack of cultural sensitivity among Chinese people?

A2. Some experts say this might not be a question of Chinese not being culturally sensitive. Actually, in 2008, a World Public Opinion poll  interviewed people from 16 countries about racial discrimination.  90% of Chinese respondents said racial equality is important, ranking second.

However, despite the opening up of the Chinese economy and many Chinese cities especially metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai becoming ever more internationalized with professionals and experts from all corners of the world the vast majority of Chinese cities and the vast majority of the Chinese people are not accustomed to interacting with people of other races and have virtually little to no awareness of racism in the global context.

And from the latest census, only 600,000 foreigners are living in China, a small portion of them black. Meanwhile, the 'white ideal' is also a pan-Asian phenomenon. As all kinds of whitening adverts are part of the beauty scene across Asia, while on some other continents, tanned skin is the ideal.