45 million 'illegal' publications confiscated in China: report

The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications in a statement said authorities handled over 15,000 relevant cases in 2012, adding some suspects have already been transferred to judicial organs, prosecuted or sentenced.

The office also revealed some details of 10 major violations in 2012, including one in which a ringleader in Beijing was sentenced to 14 years in prison for selling over 35,000 pornographic products, state-run Xinhua reported.

A local court in Hotan City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, sentenced a man to ten years in prison for selling illegal publications. In another case, two men received prison sentences of 36 months and 40 months, respectively, for printing and selling pirated textbooks.

The 10 cases also included two involving phony reporters and unlicensed periodicals.

According to statistics released by the General Administration of Press and Publication, China's publication industry registered 1.65 trillion yuan (USD 264.7 billion) in revenue in 2012, marking a year-on-year increase of 13.6 per cent.

The digital publication field also gained momentum last year.

The administration will continue to support private investment in the press and publication sector and encourage qualified enterprises to go public, Liu Binjie, head of the administration, said.