China seizes about 84 mn illegal publications in 2008

China confiscated about 84 million pornographic, pirated and unauthorized publications in 2008, the national anti-pornography and anti-piracy office said in a press release Tuesday.

Law enforcement departments investigated 25,384 cases involving the production, sale and distribution of illegal publications last year, including 328 criminal cases, according to the National Office for Cleaning Up Pornography and Fighting Illegal Publications.

It said eight illegal disc production lines were closed and 46,000 shops and 1,420 printing and copying enterprises were shut down.

Also, 14,000 illegal websites were closed and more than 490,000 items of 'harmful' content were deleted, the release said.

The office said a nationwide campaign launched in October to crack down on false reports, unauthorized publications and fraudulent journalists and media organisations achieved 'major progress'.