Students will be the main beneficiaries of the swoop with a better environment being created for earnest study, senior officials told a televised conference in Beijing yesterday.

The spread of pirated textbooks and reference materials has been rampant in recent years with some schools buying illegal books for students in increasing numbers.

Authorities discovered 3.56 million pirated textbooks and reference materials in primary and high schools in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last year alone.

The national picture was pretty bleak as well with the State Press and Publication Administration seizing 10.24 million pirated books between August and October.

Parents have decried the pirated books, claiming many of the characters and words are printed incorrectly while the theories are harmful to impressionable students.

But eliminating the scourge of piracy in the marketplace remains difficult since book dealers reap large profits from selling counterfeit books.

Pornographic cartoon books are still commonly found on campuses nationwide.

"Eliminating pirated and pornographic publications is essential because they affect our offspring’s health mentally," said Liu Yunshan, head of a team specializing in striking at illegal publications, at the meeting.

According to incomplete official statistics, more than 160 million illegal books and 430 million illegal audio-visual publications were seized between 1994 and 2002 around the country, including 18 million pornographic books.

A total of 143 facilities producing illegal discs have been shut down -- 17 more than last year.

(China Daily February 20, 2003)