More than 1,500 large Chinese enterprises have installed copyrighted software since April 2006, said Liu Binjie, director of the General Administration of Press, on Monday.

In April 2006, the National Copyright Administration and seven other ministries issued a joint notice urging Chinese companies to use copyrighted software.

Central and provincial governments have investigated 3,600 enterprises. More than 1,100 companies have faced penalties for using pirated software, Liu told a conference on software copyright issues.

Vice Premier Wu Yi, also leader of a national working group for intellectual property protection, said in a congratulatory letter to the conference that software industry was a "basic and strategic sector" of the national economic development.

Wu said the use of copyrighted software to create a healthy and standard market environment is very important to develop the software industry.

She reiterated that departments concerned should to take "forceful" measures to promote the use of copyrighted software.

The meeting, attended by 300 delegates from various software companies, also heard that China was working to promote the use of legitimate software by official organizations. Government entities and institutions above the city level have installed copyrighted software since a State Council order to that effect was issued in 2004.

China also adopted regulations in 2006 requiring computers made in China, or imported for sale here, to be pre-loaded with legitimate operating systems.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2007)