BEIJING — Around 18,000 people were convicted on charges of intellectual property (IP) piracy and producing counterfeit products last year, said Vice Premier Wang Yang Tuesday.

Police investigated more than 200,000 cases involving IP piracy and counterfeiting last year and seized 22,000 suspects, said Wang at a national meeting on IP piracy and counterfeit control.

Authorities closed more than 200,000 accounts that were facilitating IP piracy and counterfeiting on the internet, and handled about 2,000 websites to guarantee the market's proper operation, he said.

Laying out the essential tasks for this year, Wang said the government planned to tighten online supervision and investigate the source of production.

A special operation to prevent the trade of counterfeit products will be launched, in which cross-border trade along the Belt and Road Initiative will be under tight scrutiny, he said.

Supervision of rural markets will be enhanced, and computer software will be another priority, said Wang.

In addition, the government will promulgate relevant laws and regulations and establish a credit system to raise the cost of breaches, he said.