The Chinese capital and a number of other major Chinese cities on Friday held various activities to mark World Intellectual Property Day.

In Beijing, the State Intellectual Property Office and some Beijing officials and experts gave free information sessions to the public.

A paintings exhibition was also held while books on intellectual property rights were presented to primary and secondary school students in downtown areas.

In Zhuhai, a booming city bordering Macao, the local customshouse announced it handled 88 cases of pirated CDs this year.

Customs officers in Fuzhou, capital of east China's Fujian Province, met with representatives of multinationals to discuss better ways of safeguarding intellectual property rights.

World Intellectual Property Day was initiated by China and Algeria at the 34th Convention of the World Intellectual Property Organization in 1999.

The organization decided at its 35th Convention in 2000 that each April 26 would be World Intellectual Property Day.

( People's Daily April 27, 2002)