An unremitting battle against pornographic and illegal publications will continue to safeguard a healthy cultural environment.

A dozen government departments, including the National Working Group Against Pornographic and Illegal Acts, the Ministry of Public Security and the General Administration of Press and Publications, attended a televised working conference on fighting pornographic and illegal publications on Friday.

In the past year, roughly 230 million illegal publications were seized across the country, including more than 30 million illegal books and 199 million illegal audio-video products, according to statistics.

"The publications market is still haunted by some severe problems since pirated audio-video products continue to be found and criminal gangs have become rampant, and armed with the Internet and high-tech tools," said Chen Jiping, deputy director of the national working group.

To strengthen its porn-fighting arsenal, governments have launched a number of anti-porn crusades and closed 41,000 illegal publishing houses and bookstores last year.

Another 9,000 publishing houses and bookstores were fined for making and selling illegal publications.

"The government will enhance efforts this year to help guarantee a healthier cultural environment," Chen said.

Police cracked down on more than 32,000 cases involving banned publications last year.

For example, 13 people were sentenced to prison for trafficking in pornographic DVDs in October of last year in South China's Guangdong Province, with the ringleader sentenced to 19 years.

(China Daily January 22, 2005)