China Touts Effort to Reduce Piracy

BEIJING —  China has arrested some 2,600 people in an 8-month-old crackdown on product piracy, the government said Tuesday, criticizing U.S. complaints that it was failing to stop rampant copying of foreign movies, music and other goods.

Authorities have destroyed 63 million compact discs and other counterfeit goods estimated to be worth 860 million yuan ($105 million), said Vice Minister of Commerce Zhang Zhigang, speaking at a nationally televised news conference.

Zhang acknowledged that China still faced “quite a few problems,” but he criticized the U.S. for adding Beijing to a list of 14 countries that receive special scrutiny because of widespread violation of copyrights.

“China has made great efforts to promote IPR protection,” Zhang said, referring to intellectual property rights. “Under such circumstances, to accuse China of misconduct or lack of protection of IPR is unreasonable.”

The U.S. government said in April that product piracy in China had reached “epidemic levels” and has warned that Beijing could face formal complaints in the World Trade Organization, raising the threat of trade sanctions.

China is regarded as the world’s biggest source of illegally copied goods, including Hollywood movies, Microsoft Corp. software, Ralph Lauren shirts and Callaway golf clubs.

Estimates of potential lost sales to legitimate producers worldwide range from $16 billion to as much as $50 billion a year. Despite repeated crackdowns, counterfeit goods are widely available in Chinese shops.

Authorities have brought 600 criminal cases against product pirates since the crackdown began in August and have won convictions in 99.9% of cases, said Shen Deyong, the deputy chief judge of China’s supreme court, who appeared at the news conference with Zhang.

Shen didn’t say how many people were convicted or what penalties they received.

China began imposing jail time for violations after its trading partners said earlier penalties limited only to fines were too light to deter pirates.

“China is among the countries that are meting out the most severe punishment for IPR crimes,” Shen said.

Zhang said that 41 local officials had been punished for helping pirates, and that Chinese authorities had dismantled 24 illegal compact disc factories -- a key demand of U.S. officials.

The crackdown was due to end in August, but Beijing now plans to extend it through the end of the year, Zhang said.