The South China Normal University publicized a rule this month, making it a punishable offence to live with a partner, or have an affair with a married person, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.

Love on campus is not a rare phenomena in China nowadays. [China Daily/file]

Philandering and "sabotaging others' marriages" are violations of campus regulations, the report said.

The offenders will be warned, punished or even expelled, the statute said. The regulation also gives students the right to appeal and to arrange a hearing before punishment.

Many Chinese newspapers said many other universities in and out of Guangdong had similar rules.

Critics of the statute said students should have the freedom to have sex and the regulations were impractical because it was difficult to obtain evidence.

"We have the right to enjoy love and have sex as long as it is not a commercial transaction," said a male student surnamed Li.

Wu Zuxing, a lecturer at the university, said the rules were necessary to guide students.

"We had to set up standards to tell them what are the right things to do," he said.

Editor: Yan