South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has carried out a major crackdown drive against illegal cultural products, seizing 364,000 pirated audio and videodiscs.

The pirated discs cover various content from American films to Japanese cartoons and pop music in Hong Kong.

"Such products constitute a grave harm to market order and local cultural security," said Ning Xiuyu, an official with the region's cultural administration.

Since last Wednesday, a massive crackdown on the production and sale of pirated discs has been carried out in the regional capital of Nanning and some other major cities.

"The campaign has produced tangible effects. But we know piracy is still rampant in some places, especially in the production and sale of discs under pseudonyms," Ning said.

Last April, China released a white paper on the major achievements in improving intellectual property rights protection. Meanwhile, governments at all levels launched a series of educational campaigns calling on people to boycott pirated products.
 
(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2006)