With an order given by Li Xiaojie, chief of the publicity
department of Gansu Provincial Committee of the Communist
Party of China (CPC), workers set fire to 1.06 million pirated
audio/video products, alongside other illegal publications in the
suburbs of Lanzhou, the provincial capital, on Saturday
morning.
The burning of the contraband was part of a nationwide
action on Saturday to culminate China's spring campaign designed to
clean up pornography and crack down on illegal publications in the
country.
Altogether 42 million pieces of audio/video discs, and illegal
publications were destroyed in the country's 31 provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities on Saturday morning,
according to Long Xinmin, chief of the State Press and Publication
Administration.
"Through the act of destruction, we wish to show to the world
the firm determination of the Chinese government in protecting
intellectual property and its firm stance against any infringement
of intellectual property rights and piracy, and to improve the
awareness of the general public in fighting against pornography and
illegal publications," said Long at a special ceremony organized in
Beijing to mark the start of the action.
Long also serves as chief of China National Copyright
Administration.
Jiang Zengwei, vice minister of commerce and also head of the
state working group for intellectual property protection, said
China had been making persistent efforts to protect IPR to meet the needs for its own development
rather than from pressure from abroad.
Out of the massive number of illegal publications destroyed on
Saturday, smuggled and pirated audio/video, software, electronic
publications made up 30 million, and pirated and illegally
published books and magazines totaled 11 million.
One quarter of the illegal publications were destroyed in Guangdong Province, one of the country's
economic powerhouses.
Law enforcement officers used shredding machines or mullers to
destroy 10 million pirated discs and 500,000 copies of illegal
publications at a ceremony held at the new gym situated in Baiyuan
District of Guangzhou, the provincial capital.
Officials of the leading group for cleaning up pornography and
fighting illegal publications of Guangdong Province disclosed that
they confiscated 18.76 million pieces of illegal publications and
detained 26 people since the last quarter of 2006.
Law enforcement officers also destroyed 1.03 million more items
of pirated audio/video discs, and illegal publications in Tianjin, Liaoning and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on the same
day.
In the first three months of the year, China seized 36.11
million items of illegal publications, according to information
given by the National Office for Cleaning up Pornography and
Fighting Illegal Publications.
During the same period, the law enforcement officers shut down
8,385 shops and business outlets, and closed 220 publishing and
printing ventures that had violated IPR regulations, and 58 illegal
websites.
Altogether 53 criminal cases were investigated during the spring
campaign to crack down on IPR piracy or infringement across the
country, and 91 people were given criminal punishments accordingly,
said the national office.
(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2007)