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China Closes Down 3,700 Printing Enterprises
China has closed down 3,727 illegal printing factories and confiscated 2.79 million yuan (about 336,000 US dollars) in a crackdown on unlawful publications since October 1998.
Authorities have dealt with 1,767 cases and seized more than 6 million illegal books or brochures, including those advocating the Falungong cult, according to a meeting held recently in Shanghai.
People involved in the cases have been punished since the crackdown started in October 1998, according to the authorities.
The government also ordered more than 20,000 printing enterprises and 12,200 photocopy and printing centers to shut down because they failed to meet professional standards.
The Press and Publication Administration, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, jointly carried out the crackdown.
Yu Youxian, director of the Press and Publication Administration, said at the meeting that the institutional reforms in printing enterprises across the country are basically over.
He said printing enterprises are to be managed by press and publication administrations in various regions.
After the crackdown, printing businesses in China have dropped to 151,900 from 185,000 two years earlier. Currently, the industry employs 3.5 million people.
In 1999, 1,222 major printing enterprises in the country made a profit of more than 400 million yuan (about 48 million US dollars).
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