China has revoked 368 business licenses for audiovisual products in its campaign against piracy since mid July.

99 of the licenses revoked belonged to companies based in Northeast China's Jilin Province and 74 were from Central China's Henan Province, the National Anti-Pornography and Anti-Piracy Office announced yesterday.

Even in less developed Qinghai Province, nine business licenses were withdrawn, the office said.

A company is not allowed to engage in the publication, manufacturing and distribution of audiovisual products without a business license.

During the 100-day intensive crackdown on piracy, police and copyright officials have raided more than 537,000 publication markets, shops, street vendors and distribution companies, and closed down 8,907 shops and street vendors, 481 publishing companies and 942 illegal websites.

The 100-day campaign, which started on July 15, was jointly launched by 10 ministries and national departments, including the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration of Press and Publication, the National Copyright Administration and the Ministry of Culture.

The campaign is said to be unprecedented in terms of its duration and number of government departments involved.

In a related development, Chinese law enforcement agencies on Saturday destroyed nearly 13 million pirated CDs, DVDs and computer software.

The items destroyed were confiscated in the first half of the 100-day nationwide campaign against piracy, Xinhua News Agency said.

Source: China Daily