Chinese law enforcement agencies have destroyed nearly 13 million pirated compact discs, digital video discs and computer software in the government's latest campaign to curtail rampant theft of intellectual property, state media reported.
The items destroyed Saturday were confiscated in the first half of an ongoing 100-day nationwide campaign against piracy, the Xinhua News Agency said. The targets of the raids included illegal factories, shops and street vendors, it said.
Nearly half of the seized goods came from Guangdong, the economically dynamic southern province that abuts Hong Kong, the report said.
Over the past two years, China has ratcheted up efforts to stamp out the rampant theft of intellectual property, partly in response to pressure from the US and the European Union and partly to protect Chinese companies that are starting to produce their own competitive goods.
Still, illegally produced CDs, DVDs and computer software are widely available on city streets, and Chinese leaders acknowledge that it will take years to eliminate the practice.
In the latest crackdown, police and copyright officers closed down 8,907 shops and street vendors, 481 publishing companies and 942 illegal web sites, Xinhua said.
Police have uncovered 10 illegal production lines for CDs and DVDs, four of them in Guangdong , the report said.