China's government thinks that at the end of 1997, less than 20M VCD players were purchased in China. Not they think over 30M will be sold in 1998. (They always under count). Over 50M players by the end of 1998................................................................
chinadaily.net
Smugglers of VCDs to be checked
PIRATED and pornographic VCD smugglers may find it more difficult to bypass the "Great Wall" established by customs officials as China implements strong measures to control the VCD market.
Zhang Junxiong, an official with China's General Administration of Customs, on Wednesday said that the nation's ability to fight pirated and pornographic VCD smuggling has been significantly strengthened.
Now, he said, nearly 300 inspection posts have been established at ports; a satellite network can quickly inform all major customs offices about a smuggling case; and the work of seizing smugglers on ships has been greatly improved.
Satistics from the administration indicate that about 5 million smuggled VCDs had been seized in 1997, among which 80 per cent were pirated VCDs.
According to local observers, this figure also reflects the determination of the Chinese Government to protect intellectual property rights.
"In the crackdown on smuggled VCDs, successful co-operation has been achieved between customs in both Guangdong Province and the Hong Kong Special Administration Region," Zhang said.
"Last year, through exchanging information and joint actions, two illegal VCD production lines and more than 2 million smuggled VCDs have been seized."
All customs offices in China have now opened hot lines for smuggling tips and a nationwide information network has been set up.
He said that, so far, the largest smuggling case of pirated and pornographic VCDs was discovered on December 12, when the Jiangmen Customs in Guangdong Province seized 1.47 million VCDs from a batch of waste plastic.
An increase in the number of VCD players, which was estimated by experts to exceed 50 million this year, and the high profits accrued from VCD smuggling make it difficult for China's customs officials to tackle the smuggling problem, the official said.
(Xinhua)
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Date: 03/06/98
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