China begins crackdown on online IPR infringement

China on Tuesday kicked off a five-month campaign against unlicensed distribution of literature and audio and visual products on the internet.

The crackdown targets mobile device applications, e-commerce websites, online advertisements, music and video streaming websites, cloud storage services and online news providers, according to a statement released by the National Copyright Administration (NCA).

It urged local police and copyright, internet and telecom departments to strengthen supervision and "severely crack down on" intellectual property rights infringement on online forums and social-networking platforms.

According to the statement, authorities will also toughen monitoring of app stores and their uploaders.

The action was jointly initiated by the NCA, State Internet Information Office, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security.