Most urban Chinese know piracy is illegal but few feel guilty about buying pirated products, a recent survey by Nanjing University shows.

The survey, supported by the China National Social Science Foundation, involved 552 urban residents in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province.

About 89.6 percent of those surveyed said piracy was illegal but did not feel guilty about buying pirated products.

The majority of people agreed that pirates could jeopardize the publishing industry and more than 90 percent said it was necessary to strike unauthorized publications.

However, 31.3 percent of those polled said piracy could never be stopped because of the special situation in China. About 7.8 percent strongly agreed on this point.

The survey also shows that most people are unable to tell pirated publications from genuine articles.

Of those polled, 62 percent said they did not know how to distinguish illegal products from genuine copies and 20 percent said there was no difference between the two.

The survey showed most Chinese had mixed attitudes towards piracy, said Zhang Zhiqiang, chief with the Publishing Science Institute of Nanjing University.

The publishing industry and relevant government departments should implement measures to encourage people to boycott pirated products, Zhang said.

Source: Xinhua