China shuts down 2,554 websites in piracy crackdown

BEIJING -- Chinese authorities said Tuesday that 2,554 websites were shut down and 2.76 million pirated publications were confiscated in a crackdown on copyright infringement launched in 2017.

Law enforcement nationwide examined 63,000 websites, deleted 710,000 links to pirated publications, and investigated 543 cases involving online copyright infringement.

The crackdown was launched by the National Copyright Administration, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security to target films, news, mobile apps and e-commerce platforms.

Local authorities in Jilin, Shandong, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Fujian and Hunan uncovered 47 cases involving private cinemas and copyright infringement.