The Chinese government reported on Friday that more than 2,500 cases of illegal copying of books and video discs were uncovered in the first two months of the year in the battle against illegal and pirated publications.

Millions of pirated and pornographic books and DVDs have been confiscated in the government-directed "spring campaign" that will last until May.

In a raid in Changsha city of central Hunan Province on Jan. 28, police uncovered an underground book piracy crime ring and arrested the culprit surnamed Liang in Beijing the next day, the Ministry of Public Security said on Friday.

A total of 627,000 copies of pirated books were found in four storage houses in Changsha, worth 20.32 million yuan. A total of 268 publications from 21 publishing houses had been pirated, an officer said.

In separate law enforcement raids in Beijing on Jan. 26 and Feb. 7, 1.06 million illegal video discs were confiscated, and nine dealers have been arrested by police for trafficking and selling pornographic materials, he said.

Similar crackdowns in Jiangxi Province and in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have also resulted in seizures of more than 411,000 illegal pirated video discs.

China launched a 100-day nationwide campaign against pirated audio and video products and computer software from July 15 to late October in 2006.

According to official statistics, 19.46 million illegal publications were seized each month on average from July through September, more than double the monthly average for the January-June period last year.

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