Authorities in Beijing will launch a week-long campaign from Thursday to root out street peddlers selling fake Olympic mascots.

 

The announcement came shortly after Beijing law enforcement agencies said they had destroyed three illegal workshops manufacturing fake "Fuwa"s and confiscated 28,000 finished or half-finished products since the beginning of this year.

 

"The products were coarsely made with shoddy materials," the law enforcement bureau said.

 

"The new crackdown will shift focus from illegal manufacturers to street peddlers who usually appear in front of supermarkets, on overpasses and in subway stations between 4:00 PM and the early hours of the next day, the bureau said.

 

It also called on consumers to boycott fake Olympic products.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2007)