Beijing, Jan 3

About 20.5 million illegal publications were confiscated in China during 2013 amid stepped up efforts to clean up the cultural environment and safeguard cultural security, authorities said Thursday.

The number represents a significant year-on-year decrease since 2011, Xinhua reported citing a statement from the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications. 

About 52 million and 45 million such publications were seized by authorities in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

The seized material includes 670,000 pornographic publications, marking a 30 per cent drop compared with the figure in 2012, the statement said.

With the recovery of such material the authorities also managed to solve 10,000 such cases, including seven copyright infringement cases with each involving money up to 10 million yuan.

In addition, over 10,000 websites were shut down in 2013.

By:IANS