Working conference on promoting authorized software in central government departments held in Beijing

Feburary 21, Beijing - A working conference on promoting authorized software in central government departments was jointly organized by the Office of the Leading Group for the Special Campaign on Cracking down upon Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Manufacture and Distribution of Fake and Shoddy Commodities, the General Administration of Press and Publication (National Copyright Administration), the Government Offices Administration of the State Council and the Administration Bureau for Organs Directly under the Authority of the CPC Central Committee, to help ban the use of unauthorized software in central government departments by the end of May. Current progress on the promotion of genuine software was reported and tasks for the next stage were assigned at the meeting, which was attended by nearly 200 officials from 146 central government departments.

Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of GAPP and NCA, pointed out the vital role of the promotion of authorized software in enhancing the development of software industry and in confronting international pressures on IPR issues. China has made significant achievements in intellectual property, which has been recognized globally and has contributed to a healthy environment for domestic software industry. According to statistics from Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the sales income of domestic software businesses has increased from 480 billion yuan in 2006 to 1.3 trillion yuan in 2010, revealing Chinese national software industry has become more competent in global competition. However, further promotion of authorized software is not an easy task due to lack of IPR awareness in Chinese society and limited effect of certain unhelpful measures taken by some departments and regions. Yan called for central government departments to fully recognize the big environment for eliminating unauthorized software and to utilize the existing mechanisms on cooperation, funding, collective procurement, assets management, software pre-installation and market supervision to make sure the set target can be achieved on time.

Wang Ziqiang, director of copyright management division in GAPP (NCA) reported to the conference the current progress in the promotion of genuine software and announced the work arrangement for the next stage. Following the requirement of the State Council (the Cabinet), i.e. the central and regional government departments shall discard all pirated software by the end of May and October in 2011 respectively, by February 15, 37 central government departments, including the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, the General Office of the State Council, MIIT, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, GAPP (NCA), the State Intellectual Property Office, the Government Offices Administration and the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, have taken the lead in the progress by having thoroughly banned the use of pirated software; departments under the State Council have almost accomplished preliminary investigations; Organs Directly under the Authority of the CPC Central Committee have planned to conduct the investigations recently; the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the central committees of democratic parties have also started to make deployment for the investigations.

Between October 2010 and February 10 this year, Chinese central government offices spent 41.43 million yuan purchasing or updating 53,915 sets of licensed software. Local governments have taken steps to promote the use of licensed software, too. Qingdao in Shandong Province has spent 76.63 million yuan on 15,278 licensed software products, taking the lead among its counterparts; Shanghai has almost achieved the goal in banning pirated software in relevant authorities and Pudong District is exploring feasible measures to incorporate authorized software into fixed assets; Shenzhen in Guangdong Province has accomplished the preliminary investigation; major provinces and municipalities including Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are accelerating their steps and making every effort to complete the task as early as possible.

Representatives from the 37 central government departments that have fulfilled the mission earlier than others shared their experience at the meeting.

Other departments in the central government that have not thoroughly banned the use of pirated software were provided with a clear timetable and detailed requirements so as to meet the set target. The meeting also asked relevant authorities to set up a permanent mechanism on software asset management to eliminate the use of unauthorized software.

A national inspection tour to supervise the use of licensed software will start in early March, jointly organized by GAPP (NCA), MOF, MOC, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, SAIC, SIPO, the Government Offices Administration of the State Council, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, Commission for Banking Supervision, China Securities Regulatory Commission, China Insurance Regulatory Commission, the Administration Bureau for Organs Directly under the Authority of the CPC Central Committee and All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.