China's restrictive policies on plastic bags are getting more complex as the government rushes to patch loopholes of the initial rules.

The Ministry of Commerce issued new provisions in the beginning of July and restated the ban on free plastic bags to all retail stores.

Some Chinese media cited industry experts as saying that the new provision extends the ban from "supermarkets, department stores and farmers' markets," which were specifically mentioned in the original rules, to other, more controversial places such as restaurants, bookstores, clothing stores, drugstores, building-material stores, etc.

Such coverage has spread widely into both Chinese and foreign media, leading more retailers to jump on the bag-at-a-charge bandwagon.

However, Beijing officials clarified last week that restaurants are "by principle not included in the ban for this moment." Meantime, the same officials acknowledged that some restaurants are already charging for carry-out bags, but that's "their own practice and not mandatory."

The supplementary provisions also said produce bags, exempt from the ban, must have no carrier features. But again, contrary to some Chinese and foreign media coverage, the government has not banned customers from using produce bags as a substitute for shopping bags.