A CHINESE regulator said yesterday it will strengthen supervision of the IT industry to better protect consumers after state media reported loopholes in Apple Inc's after-sales service in China.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce will tighten supervision of Apple and other electronics firms after CCTV and People's Daily published negative reports about the company's warranty policies, which they said are "unfair" to Chinese consumers, China National Radio reported yesterday.

It was the administration's first move since CCTV reported the Apple story on March 15.

CCTV accused Apple of skirting warranty periods and adopting customer-service policies for Chinese that were different from the company's practice in other countries.

Apple later announced it would improve its warranties, including replacing faulty iPhone 5s for customers within the warranty period.

Still, People's Daily condemned Apple for five straight days, saying it was too "arrogant to apologize."

Apple China declined to comment yesterday.

The administration said it had punished Apple resellers in the past due to unfair contracts. It added Apple had made changes to its warranty contracts under its guidance, the report said.