Some 223 pirate CD and DVD production lines have been closed since a crackdown began in 1996, officials said yesterday.

The latest two illegal production lines were discovered by local police in Shenzhen on March 15, according to a report by the national anti-piracy office under the General Administration of Press and Publication.

Rewards of up to 300,000 yuan (US$37,500) have been offered to encourage members of the public to report any suspicious activity, which could be related to the production, transport, trading and sale of pirated optical disks. "More than 40 million yuan (US$5 million) worth of rewards have been paid since 1996, and we plan to expand our rewards system," said Wang Xikai, publicity director of the anti-piracy office.

In one Shenzhen raid, more than 60,000 completed pirated discs and 730,000 semi-finished discs were found. Suspects Huang Wenxin, Hou Linping and Li Zhihui were arrested after police found the bootlegging base.

Police believe the production line, capable of producing 30,000 discs every day, had generated more than 7 million discs since last July.

In a similar case, some 360,000 pirated discs were found in a garage in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on January 15. While a more secret production base was uncovered in the cross-border area connecting China and Viet Nam.

"Collusion between domestic gangs and overseas traffickers makes the situation more complicated," said Liu Binjie, deputy director of the press and publication general administration, who heads the administration's anti-piracy work.

According to the administration, a 100-day campaign urging people to say no to pirated discs and publications, will be launched on July 15.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)