China arrested 3,170 suspects for violating intellectual property rights (IPR) laws in the past five months during a special crackdown on IPR infringement.

This was disclosed at a work meeting of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, which was held Thursday in Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang Province.

Procuratorates at all levels approved the arrests of 3,170 people involved in 1,636 IPR infringement cases, and 2,680 of them have been prosecuted from last October to the end of February, said a statement from the meeting.

Along with the special crackdown, procuratorates at all levels intensified their supervision of law enforcement agencies, particularly in relation to the handling of criminal cases.

China launched a half-year national campaign to crack down on violations of intellectual property rights and the production and distribution of fake and shoddy products in October.

On March 10, the State Council, China's cabinet, announced that the crackdown would be extended to the end of June.

The statement said the special campaign, while being heavy-handed towards IPR cases, would give priority to curbing fake and shoddy food products.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate ordered the timely filing of criminal charges against suspects involved in food safety cases and officials who accept bribes.

(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2011)