China Tuesday reiterated its determination to bust piracy and
protect intellectual property rights in the thriving video market.
That determination was demonstrated Tuesday with the destruction of
more than 16.4 million pirated video compact discs (VCDs), compact
discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs) and CD-ROMs in the Zhuhai
Special Economic Zone in South China's Guangdong Province.
Shi Zongyuan, director of the National Copyright
Administration, insisted there would be no space for video
piracy to grow on the Chinese mainland.
Fifteen giant machines were used to reduce the massive quantity of
pirated discs to tiny pieces at a special ceremony in Zhuhai's
Sports Centre.
It
was the most significant event of its kind to date and a clear
signal that China means business ahead of becoming a member of the
World Trade Organization.
Most of the pirated VCDs, CDs, DVDs and CD-ROMs which were
destroyed were originally made in Hong Kong, Macao and Southeast
Asia. They were seized in recent years by the Gongbei Customs,
which is adjacent to Macao Special Administrative Region.
Despite the achievements that have been made in anti-piracy, Shi,
who is also director of the General Administration of Press and
Publications, said that the nation would also continue to pursue
more co-operation with the rest of the world to stop pirates and
help legitimate businesses in the years ahead.
He
admitted that the anti-piracy drive is a long-term and hard task in
China.
China seized 29.89 million pirated VCDs and CDs in the first eight
months this year.
And a total of 33 cases which involved the smuggling of more than
10,000 pirated VCDs have been successfully concluded since the
beginning of the year.
Between 1998 and 2000, the country seized more than 54 million
pirated VCDs and CDs.
Most of the pirated VCDs and CDs were seized when they were being
smuggled into the mainland in the southern Chinese waters.
And the prosperous Guangdong Province, which borders Hong Kong and
Macao and has witnessed the country's largest number of smuggling
cases, has become a major anti-piracy front in China.
Liu Wenjie, deputy director of the General Administration of
Customs, has also promised customs officers at all levels in the
country will continue their great efforts to crack down on
smuggling pirated discs.
Senior officials from the Working Group for Eliminating Pornography
and Other Illegal Publications, General Administration of Customs,
the ministries of public security and culture, State Intellectual Property
Bureau, State Press and Publication Administration, State
Industrial and Commercial Administration and Guangdong Province
attended Tuesday's grand ceremony.
(China
Daily 08/29/2001)