A Chinese TV presenter issued a public apology after posing topless with two other women in hospital advertisements for women's health.

Chen Dan, a presenter on Changsha TV's "Women's channel" in the southeastern province of Hunan, was criticized on Internet chat-rooms and TV authorities after her "Clever Girls Love Themselves More" advertisement appeared at bus stops and on billboards in Hunan's capital, Changsha.

Chen, who was suspended, said it was a "public interest advertisement."

The Beijing News quoted her as saying, "My intentions were good. I hoped to draw people's attention to women's health, but because the format was inappropriate it caused a huge backlash. In future I will choose more suitable ways of publicising women's health."

The topless advertisement provoked a fiery debate over the morality of using nudity to promote public interest causes.