Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

In a campaign against piracy, Shanghai Audio & Video City, one of China's largest wholesale markets of audio and video products, opened yesterday in the city's Zhabei District to offer more affordable CDs, VCDs and DVDs, the Wenhui Daily reported.
More than 100 audio and video companies have crowded the three floors of the 5,000-sqquare-meter market, showcasing over 60,000 products on their shelves.
To prevent pirated products from swarming into the market, the market manager has taken strict measures, according to the general manager Tan Jianyong.
He said that all firms operating in the market must promise that their products are not pirated.  They will be driven out of the market if they are found to be breaking the rules.
Audio and Video City has private capital among its total investment of 40 million yuan (US$4.8 million), according to the Wenhui Daily report.  But it did not specify its capital structure.
The city has attracted not only audio and video manufacturers and dealers but also first-class general agents, so that the intermediary business between manufactures and buyers is removed and therefore retail prices on the local market can be effectively reduced, the report said.