China has detected more than 100,000 cases involving violation of intellectual property rights (IPR) in the past five months, Vice-premier Wang Qishan said at a national conference in Qingdao on Friday.

While praising the results so far, Wang ordered government departments across the country to continue their efforts by focusing on key markets and fields, such as agricultural products, food and pharmaceuticals.

"Harsher criminal and economic punishments should be imposed in order to truly intimidate violators," Wang said.

Wang also urged government departments to purchase and use legitimate computer software, Xinhua reported.

He said local authorities should be more aggressive in policing software piracy, counterfeiting and online IPR violations and establish a long-term mechanism for IPR protection in the near future.

The ongoing campaign has targeted pirated publications, DVDs, software and other illegal products, as well as violations of trademarks and patents.

According to the statistics released by the Supreme People's Court, a total of 1,294 cases involving IPR violation have been sent to courts in China in 2010, about 27 percent more than that in 2009.

Police nationwide have investigated more than 5,500 cases, seized counterfeit goods with a potential value of 4.6 billion yuan ($705.7 million), arrested 9,623 suspects and closed down 2,608 illegal production sites through March.

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