China's Jiangsu Province is banning students from bringing their mobile phones and other electronics into classrooms, reports the Xinhua News Agency.

Two Chinese students watch their companion playing video games on a smartphone at a middle school in Xuancheng, Anhui Province, November 3, 2016. All three school boys wear glasses. (File Photo: IC)

The ban is regarded as part of the province's latest efforts to protect the students' eyesight and curb the rise in nearsightedness - or myopia - among children and teenagers.

According to a new guideline jointly issued by eight governmental departments in Jiangsu, the province is limiting the hours of having access to electronic products for local students, ranging from kindergarten to primary and middle schools.

In addition to personal electronics, such as mobile phones and tablet computers, in classrooms, the guideline is also promoting paper homework instead of electronic ones, vowing to guarantee a move away from over-relying on electronic devices for in-campus teaching and off-school homework.

The guidelines also require students to participate in no less than one hour of sports activities at school every day.

China plans to reduce the myopia rate among teenagers and bring children a "bright future," as demanded by President Xi Jinping last year.