A Beijing judge has ruled that an internet hosting company was wrong to close a prominent government critic's website over allegedly illegal content, in the first-ever case won by a victim of internet censorship in a Chinese court.

Hu Xingdou, an economics professor who regularly discusses topics ranging from corruption to police brutality on his webpage, sued Beijing Xin Net in April after the hosting company sent him an e-mail saying the site contained "illegal" content and had been shut down.