(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-18 09:38

BEIJING -- A senior publicity official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Thursday called for a strengthened crackdown on illegal and pornographic publications.

Liu Yunshan, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, told a national teleconference that "unswerving efforts should be made to protect intellectual property rights and to fight various illegal publications so as to maintain a sound cultural environment".

Last year, the latest statistics show China confiscated about 149 million pornographic, pirated and unauthorized publications, and clamped down on 44,000 illegal stalls and 933 print shops. Authorities also closed 62,600 illegal websites.

Law enforcement departments also investigated more than 31,000 cases involving the production, sale and distribution of illegal publications in the past year. These included 667 criminal cases, according to the National Office for Cleaning Up Pornography and Fighting Illegal Publications.

Liu, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, pointed out that fighting illegal publications was to protect the health of young people and for the country's copyright protection.

Emphasis needed to be placed on the crackdown of pirates, online pornographic content and illegal publications, he said.