Official promises music piracy crackdown

A Ministry of Culture official described music piracy in China as a "grave situation," and apologized to recording artists at a music industry event in Cannes, France, Reuters reported. Zhang Xinjian, deputy director-general of the ministry’s markets division, also promised that the government would tighten administrative control of the internet and prosecute music counterfeiters. A report released in January by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimated that piracy was responsible for 99% of the Chinese market.