Anti-piracy efforts help blockbusters

China's record-shattering box office success of the animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 is the result of a sweeping crackdown on the illegal recording and distribution of films, the country's top intellectual property regulator said on Thursday.

The campaign has involved registering the copyrights for artistic and musical works tied to hit films such as Ne Zha 2 and Boonie Bears: Future Reborn. The China Copyright Protection Center, working with provincial copyright authorities in Sichuan and Guangdong provinces, led the registration drive under the guidance of the National Copyright Administration.

The administration also issued three batches of copyright protection warning lists for movies currently screening in theaters, said Wang Zhicheng, head of the copyright management bureau at the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.