Fake, shoddy name-brand garments were cleaned up from Beijing's new silk market, Xiushui Street, which opened March 19, with government pledging to "severely punish" business people involved.

Officials with industry and commerce departments combed all 1,500 stalls in the market on Monday. They confiscated 119 imitation Northface dresses, and 100 fake Boss and Gucci shirts.

The old silk market, which shut on January 6 owing to fire and safety hazards, has once again become a popular tourist shopping haunt famous for its fake name-brand goods.

The government capitalized on this opportunity to root out the rampant counterfeit. District officials acknowledged that the new market will sell no brand-name imitations and phony goods marked with any of nine brands targeted in the country's anti-piracy drive, including Louis Vitton and Chanel, will be confiscated.

The 28,000-sq-m new indoor market, next to the old one, has 1,300 smoke sensors and a fire control center with screens monitoring every corner of the building. And fire fighters are said to be able to arrive on the spot within two minutes of a fire.