A man walks past a screen showing a poster of the Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 before a preview screening at the BFI IMAX theater in London, Britain, on March 14, 2025. (Photo: Xinhua)

Saturday marked the World Intellectual Property (IP) Day. The occasion drew renewed attention to the ongoing problem of film piracy. Popular movies like Ne Zha 2, Detective Chinatown 1900 and Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force have been among the targeted hits for illegal recording and distribution operations.

On Friday, China's Ministry of Public Security released new data, showing that in February, police departments, working closely with copyright authorities and the film industry, cracked down on a series of piracy cases involving major Chinese New Year releases. They dismantled several criminal networks responsible for illegal theater recordings and online distribution of pirated films, arresting 28 suspects and shutting down more than 300 infringing websites and apps, according to the China Youth Daily.

One notable case occurred on February 3, when police in Dongyang, East China's Zhejiang Province uncovered a major operation violating the copyrights of this year's Spring Festival movie releases. 

Authorities arrested seven suspects, seized more than 130 illegal film-related websites, confiscated over 200,000 pirated movie copies, and uncovered illegal profits totaling more than 25 million yuan ($3.43 million). The case has been officially recognized by China's National Copyright Administration and Ministry of Public Security as one of the first major examples in a nationwide campaign to protect film copyrights.

Chinese animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2, is the highest-grossing animated film of all time. While the film began rolling out in cinemas across Denmark and other Nordic countries this week, it was first released on January 29.

Data obtained by the China Youth Daily showed that a full pirated version of the movie, lasting two hours, 18 minutes and 40 seconds, appeared online by 11 am the very next day since its official release in China. By April 17, a total of 261,716 piracy-related links had been detected, and 256,073 of them had been taken down. About 40 percent of these links contained the entire film, while the rest featured illegally recorded clips.

The release of Ne Zha 2 has been extended for a third time and will now be shown until May 31. As of now, it has grossed over 15.7 billion yuan at the global box office, reported the People's Daily.