China has seized more than 4.35 million illegal teaching materials since late August when a fresh campaign to crack down on illegal publications started ahead of the National Day celebrations.

According to the country's National Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications Office, some 100,000 stalls selling illegal publications were removed and 182 printing companies involved were closed down.

"The situation of illegal publications is generally under control... However, pirate issue is still obvious. Those pirated teaching materials especially harm the healthy development of the country's youth," said Li Baozhong, vice director of the office, at a news conference Monday.

The first and second phases of the nationwide inspection of the country's cultural markets were conducted from January to July. The third phase will run until late November.

A total of 39.3 million illegal publications were confiscated in the first seven months of this year. About 90 percent of these were pirated.

The focal points of the inspection were audio-video piracy, illegal admission of minors to Internet cafes and books and magazines with 'lewd' content.

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2009)