China confiscates 149 mln illegal publications in past year

China confiscated about 149 million pornographic, pirated and unauthorized publications in 2007, the national anti-pornography and anti-piracy office said in a press release on Monday.

Of the confiscated publications, there were 3.72 million pornographic publications, 3.2 million illegal newspapers and magazines, 3.36 million smuggled discs, and 136 million pirated publications, according to the National Office for Cleaning Up Pornography and Fighting Illegal Publications.

Law enforcement departments investigated more than 31,000 cases involving the production, sale and distribution of illegal publications in the past year, including 667 criminal cases.

In a special campaign to fight online harmful information, 44,000 domestic websites and 14,000 websites run by people in other countries and regions were closed for containing pornographic content, according to the press release.

The office said the nationwide campaign launched in August last year to crack down on false news reports, unauthorized publications and bogus journalists also achieved positive results. It, however, failed to give any details.