Chinese police are cracking down on intellectual property rights (IPR) violations to create a clean market environment for the six-month long World Expo in Shanghai that opened Saturday.

As of April 15, police across the nation have arrested 529 suspects and confiscated more than 4.2 million fake and pirated goods worth 190 million yuan (US$29 million), said a statement published on the website of the Public Security Ministry Tuesday.

In Shanghai, the police have closed 114 sites selling or manufacturing fake and pirated goods, arresting 130 suspects and seizing 640,000 counterfeit goods, the statement said.

Police have also targeted 16 regions nationwide, where infringement activities are rampant, for further crackdowns.

(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2010)