Eight ministry-level departments have launched a yearlong nationwide crackdown on counterfeit products.

Documents released jointly by the departments yesterday said the aim is to clear China's markets of fake and poor-quality products and rebuild consumer confidence.

Law-enforcement and quality-supervision departments will be the major forces in the anti-counterfeiting campaign. Enterprises or shops found to have been involved in manufacturing or selling fake or poor-quality products will be severely punished according to State laws and regulations.

In January, the focus will be on vulnerable rural markets in the run-up to the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 1 this year.

Quality supervisors will be sent to rural areas this month to check the quality of food supplies.

The campaign will widen its scope in February, when nearly all kinds of products that affect consumers' interests will undergo spot checks.

A highlight of the campaign will be March 15, Consumer's Day, when a series of publicity activities will be held across the country to call for the better protection of consumers' interests.

In March, the campaign will enter a new stage. Consumers and enterprises will then be urged to play an active part in the campaign by providing useful information to quality-supervision departments. Members of the public can call the special telephone numbers 12315, 12365 and 12358.

Quality supervision will enter cyberspace this year. Enterprises or stores found to have used fraud will be named on the Internet. Anyone with access to the Internet will be able to check the information online.

(China Daily January 3, 2002)