China software piracy rate down in 2008

BEIJING, Jun 04, 2009 -- China's software piracy was effectively curbed in 2008, according to Zhang Qin, deputy commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO).

China's software industry's sales value amounted to 757.3 billion yuan (US$110.9 billion) in 2008. The figure included 316.6 billion yuan from computer software products, up 32 per cent year on year, according to statistics from Chinalabs.

Economic losses (in converted value) tied to pirated software decreased by six per cent in 2008. The piracy rate in the industry's sales value fell to 15 per cent from the 20 per cent in 2007, and that in product values declined to 29 per cent from the 41 per cent one year ago.

However, office software, information security software, language development and software tools still suffered from relatively high levels of theft.

Experts are suggesting the stricter punishment of software pirates and blocks of pirated channels. In addition, software producers are expected to improve products' cost performance to make purchases and applications more convenient for users, and to provide more value-added services to adapt to the development of the internet.

(Source：IPR in China)

AFD China Newsletter is intended to provide our clients and friends information only. It should not constitute legal advice of AFD China or any of its attorneys, and AFD China will not be held responsible for any reliance on its contents.