45 million illegal publications confiscated in China

BEIJING - Forty-five million illegal publications were confiscated and over 3.7 million pieces of online information involving pornography or other illegal content were deleted in China in 2012.

The figures were included in a statement issued by the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications on Friday to sum up the achievements of the country's fight against illegal publications, pornography and piracy.

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The statement said authorities handled more than 15,000 relevant cases in 2012, adding that some suspects have already been transferred to judicial organs, prosecuted or sentenced.

The office also revealed some details of ten major violations in 2012, including one in which a ringleader in Beijing was sentenced to 14 years in prison for selling over 35,000 pornographic products.

A local court in Hotan City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, sentenced a man to ten years in prison for selling illegal publications.

In another case, two men received prison sentences of 36 months and 40 months, respectively, for printing and selling pirated textbooks.

The ten cases also included two involving phony reporters and unlicensed periodicals.

According to statistics revealed by the General Administration of Press and Publication, China's publication industry registered 1.65 trillion yuan (264.7 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue in 2012, marking a year-on-year increase of 13.6 percent. The digital publication field also gained momentum last year.

The administration will continue to support private investment in the press and publication sector and encourage qualified enterprises to go public, Liu Binjie, head of the administration, said at a meeting on Friday.