Two pop singers in the Chinese province of Sichuan are to be fined up to $US12,000 for lip-synching - or miming - at a concert last September.
The company that put on their show insists Yin Youcan and Fang Ziyuan are dancers and says it cannot find them.
Miming was banned in China after a girl was revealed to have lip-synched at the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.
The Ministry of Culture said it would revoke the licences of professional performers who are caught lip-synching twice during a two-year period.
The BBC reports this is thought to be the first time the rules have been applied.
