China will launch a one-year-long campaign from September to crack down infringements on intellectual property rights (IPR), according to a national meeting Friday.

"Turning a blind eye to IPR infringement is a short-sighted act," Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi told the meeting.

"Such acts will not only seriously undermine market economic order and hamper China's economic growth, but also ruin the prestige and image of the country and influence China's future opening-up," she said.

Wu, who heads China's IPR protection working group, said the Chinese government has always attached importance to the IPR protection. So far, China has established a relatively complete legal system and law enforcement system in the regard in line with international standards.

"After years of efforts, China has achieved considerable progress in IPR protection. It's really a easy job for a developing country to achieve this in such a short time," she pointed out.

On the campaign, the vice-premier said regional officials that fail to contain infringement of intellectual property rights will be seriously punished.

According to the meeting, the campaign will investigate a number of serious IPR infringement cases, particular the cases on trademark, copyright and patent rights.

During the campaign, actions will also be taken to educate the public about the importance of intellectual property rights protection.

(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2004)