China promised yesterday to tighten a crackdown on product piracy -- a key source of tension with Washington -- and improve enforcement cooperation with foreign governments ahead of President Hu Jintao's (
The government shut down 17 production lines making pirated DVDs and CDs last year and six this year, said Yan Xiaohong (閻曉宏), deputy commissioner of the National Copyright Administration of China.
"We are very tough in our measures," Yan said at a news conference.
China is widely regarded as the world's top source of illegal copies of music, movies, software, designer clothes, medicines and other products. Such fake products are still widely available despite repeated government crackdowns.
US officials say unauthorized goods cost legitimate producers worldwide billions of dollars a year in lost potential sales.
They have been pressuring Beijing for stiffer penalties and to shut down factories and stores linked to counterfeits.
Hu is due to visit the White House on April 24 and Beijing has reportedly been preparing initiatives to ease trade tensions ahead of a meeting with US President George W. Bush.
Beijing wants to "strengthen cooperation with international authorities," said Zheng Shaodong (
"We hope to strike hard against international intellectual property rights infringements to maintain legal rights, and international and economic and trade orders," Zheng said.
US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez was due to arrive in Beijing late yesterday for trade talks that he said would include the status of China's anti-piracy enforcement.
Yan said that in a recent investigation of disc manufacturers Chinese authorities pulled the licenses of six companies and halted production at eight more, including one company in Beijing and another in Guangdong Province.
Other punitive measures against counterfeiters include fines and warnings, he said.
Authorities are offering rewards of up to 300,000 yuan (US$36,000) for tips on illegal production lines, Yan said.
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