Wang Maolin, the ministry-level director of a working group for eliminating pornography and other illegal publications, said the Chinese government can and will bust piracy and protect intellectual property rights to ensure a vibrant video market.

China will also continue to pursue more co-operation with other countries to nail pirates and help legitimate businesses.

Wang made the remarks in this provincial capital at an awards ceremony for people who contributed to a crackdown on a big pirated video factory in Guangdong Province last month. The case involved 60 million yuan (US$7.2 million).

The government Wednesday offered 610,000 yuan (US$73,500) in awards to five work units and 14 individuals who contributed. Never before has such a large award been given for anti-piracy work.

Every unit received 50,000 yuan (US$6,038, while individuals got 15,000 yuan (more than US$1,811).

Thirty-six suspects, including suspected leaders, were arrested.

Seven illegal production lines, including two for DVDs, were destroyed or confiscated. This case is the first bust of an illegal DVD line.

All the equipment were made overseas and smuggled into the mainland, Wang said, adding that "the crackdown has helped find the source of China's piracy and the smuggling channels.''

China has cracked down on 105 illegal video lines since it started an anti-piracy campaign six years ago, Wang said.

But Wang said anti-piracy work is a long term and a hard task in China. He said piracy has hurt China's politics, economy and culture.

"Big-name offshore companies should not sell VCD and DVD production lines and equipment to companies that have no licenses to produce, to seek big profits,'' Wang said.

Bordering Hong Kong and Macao, Guangdong has become a major anti-piracy front. Eighty-seven of the busted production lines were found in Guangdong, Wang said. They were all produced by southeast Asian countries and smuggled in through Macao and Hong Kong.

Huang Liman, deputy secretary of the Guangdong Committee of the Communist Party of China, has promised to continue fighting piracy as well. The province has set up a way for residents to report piracy cases, Huang said.

(China Daily)