Stones to play first concert in China

The Rolling Stones will play in China for the first time this April, three years after cancelling two shows because of the SARS outbreak.

Chinese promoter Emma Entertainment confirmed the concert on Tuesday.

The veteran rockers will play the 8,000-seat Grand Stage in Shanghai on April 8 as part of the A Bigger Bang tour that has seen them play in Canada and, more recently, in Brazil.

The Stones are one of the better known Western rock bands in China, with their Forty Licks CD widely available in pirated versions. Shanghai is China's wealthiest and most cosmopolitan city and acts such as Elton John, Mariah Carey and Deep Purple have played there.

A spokesman for Emma Entertainment said the band has agreed to remain within guidelines set by Chinese censors, who are wary of sexually explicit lyrics.

Before the 2003 shows, the Chinese Ministry of Culture prohibited four songs — Let's Spend the Night Together, Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Women and Beast of Burden.

"This time, they also probably will not play those songs," an Emma Entertainment spokesperson said, quoted by Reuters.

The Stones have not confirmed that they would comply with censors' rules. Ticket prices for the Shanghai show range from about $42 to $426. The band is also touring Japan and Australia.

Two concerts scheduled for 2003 were cancelled after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. The band had tried to tour China in the late 1970s, but Chinese authorities did not approve the plan.