Ang Lee has agreed to cut about 30 minutes of the steamiest scenes in his thriller Lust, Caution so it will pass Chinese censors.

The Taiwanese director shortened the film himself to protect its integrity, according to co-producer EDKO Films of Hong Kong.

China's film bureau has approved the edited version of the movie, a bureau spokesperson confirmed in state media reports.

The film, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, earned a U.S. rating of NC-17, restricting it to viewers over age 17, because of its scenes of violence and sex.

Lee refused to make cuts in the U.S. version to earn it a more general rating, but Chinese state media said the director "attached much importance to the Chinese market."

Lust, Caution is set in the 1940s and centres on a group of revolutionary Chinese students bent on killing a powerful political figure who collaborates with invading Japanese forces during the Second World War.

Chinese actress Tang Wei arrives for the screening of Lust, Caution in Venice on Aug. 30. Her sex scenes have been cut by director Ang Lee in the version to show in China.
(Andrew Medichini/ Associated Press)

It features several sex scenes by first-time actress Tang Wei and one of Asia's biggest screen stars, Tony Leung.

Those scenes, as well as violent scenes featuring Chinese-American pop star Lee Hom Wang, have been cut in the Chinese version.

China does not have a film rating system that would keep younger viewers away from unsuitable material, meaning anything deemed unsuitable for children is barred from general viewing.

The film's debut in China will be in late October.