BEIJING - China on Thursday vowed to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR).

Vice Premier Wang Qishan made the pledge in a meeting with Francis Gurry, director general of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and Robert Holleyman, president of Business Software Alliance (BSA), in Beijing.

"The Chinese government will pay great attention to IPR protection and will unswervingly protect IPR in the future," said Wang.

He said the Chinese government this month launched a half-year campaign to crackdown on IPR violations and the production and distribution of fake and shoddy products.

The campaign was targeted at pirated publications and governments at all levels were required to use authorized software.

Gurry and Holleyman said they both looked forward to promoting IPR protection via cooperation with China.