Across China: Tianjin

Crime syndicates

As crime syndicates become more sophisticated, China will focus more attention on its crackdown on copyright infringement and pornography publications, a Chinese official said in Tianjin this month.

Varieties and quantities of illegal publications still are increasing each year, said Jiang Jianguo, deputy director of the National Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications Office.

Offenders are using more advanced digital and computer network technologies to produce these publications, Jiang said at a meeting in the North China port city.

At the meeting, the city's law enforcement and culture departments, along with intellectual property rights watchdog agencies, were praised for their efforts to dismantle a crime syndicate involved in copyright infringement in early July.

(China Daily 08/24/2009 page9)