China uncovers 3,600 IPR infringement cases

BEIJING - China investigated 3,646 intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement cases, valued at more than 20 million yuan ($3 million), since it launched a special crackdown on IPR infringement last October, according to a statement from the Culture Ministry issued on Friday.

The ministry's local bureaus and police raided 744 locations and confiscated more than 6.39 million fake products during the five-month period, the statement said.

On October 19 last year, the culture authority in Jinniu district in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, confiscated nearly 500,000 pirated and pornographic video products from a video store.

Also, the southern China province of Hainan summoned nine people suspected of illegally publishing 16 kinds of periodicals and magazines to court, according to the statement.

The ministry vowed to intensify its crackdown across the country in the future.

With a special focus on pirated online music, games and publications, China launched the half-year crackdown on IPR violations that aims to stop the production and selling of fake, shoddy products.

The initiative started last October and is meant to ensure a healthy market.