An operation led by China's Ministry of Public Security was given an intellectual property protection award by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.

This was the first time a foreign government department has won such an award, Xinhua News Agency reported.

China's Operation Cloud, a crackdown on the production, distribution and sale of illicit medicines, was given the 2014 IP Champions Award in recognition of its contributions to protecting public health.

In the 2013 operation, about 15,000 counterfeit drug cases were uncovered, and more than 1,300 suspects were arrested, said Hu Binchen, Police Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in the United States, at the 2014 IP Champions Conference.

Twelve individuals, enterprises, research centers, consumer rights defenders and governmental institutions were honored at the conference.

The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime also won the award for educating the public on how counterfeit goods are used to funnel money to organized crime.

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