A seminar on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection opened here on Monday, which aims at strengthening IPR protection effort in China's State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The seminar was attended by 80 participants from SOEs under direct administration of the central government, the State Administration of Supervision and Inspection of State-owned Enterprises, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission and China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The participants will discuss IPR cases and ways to strengthen and improve IPR protection in Chinese enterprises.

The 10-day event was jointly sponsored by the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China central committee, the State Office of Intellectual Property Protection and the National School of Administration.

China launched a 100-day nationwide intensive anti-piracy campaign, focusing on pirated audio and video products and computer software on July 15.

An average of 19.46 million illegal publications were seized each month from July to September, more than double the monthly average for the January-June period, according to an official of the State Office of Intellectual Property Protection.

The Chinese government had set up a task force on IPR protection and opened 50 centers to handle complaints of IPR violations across the country.

(Xinhua News Agency November 7, 2006)