According to a Xinhua News Agency report on August 8, the 2005 summer campaign on intellectual property rights (IPR) that began on June 19 has been a success, with a large quantity of pirated goods seized, markets restricted and illicit trafficking channels blocked.

The campaign was jointly initiated by eight central government departments including the Office of the National Anti-pornography Working Group, the Ministry of Culture, the General Administration of Press and Publication and the General Administration of Customs.

The report stressed that joint endeavors across the country involving local police, businesses and government departments have resulted in better implementation of IPR laws. They have uncovered many cases involving the production and sale of pirated products and regulation of the market has been markedly improved.

The aim of the campaign has been to primarily target pirated DVDs of domestic and foreign films, as well as to increase awareness amongst the general public of the importance of IPR issues.

There have been comprehensive inspections of audio and video products in the provinces of Hebei, Hubei, Qinghai, Gansu and Fujian.

In Shanghai, over 600 inspectors were mobilized to check 390 sites, and within one and a half months 9 sites were closed down that each traded over 10,000 illegal discs, and 190,000 illegal products seized. More than 40 unlicensed sites were also closed.

In Xuzhou of Jiangsu Province, 106 officers closed down 4 underground wholesalers in one go, confiscating 300,000 pirated discs.

Places selling pirated products near schools were targeted in Beijing and in the provinces of Anhui and Guizhou. More than 270 full-time inspectors were organized in Anhui to talk to teachers and students about IPR awareness and to help them identify pirated products. Over 4,500 people were involved in checking 2,260 shops, and 3 wholesalers were shut down and 30,000 pirated discs seized. Sixty-seven unlicensed shops were also closed, and 12 were penalized.

Undercover investigation teams were sent out in the provinces of Shanxi, Shandong and Hainan. In Henan Province, officials relied on information from concerned citizens as well as from inspections, leading them to confiscate 560,000 illegal discs from 4 sites.

Between June 28 and July 13, 7 wholesalers were uncovered in Guangdong Province and 4 million pirated products seized. On July 13, 397,000 pirated discs were found at just one site.?

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2005)