BEIJING -- China launched a national copyright monitoring website on Thursday, a step forward in the nation's crackdown on piracy.

The website, www.12426.cn, is managed by the Copyright Monitoring Center under the Copyright Society of China, providing identification, security monitoring, early warning and rights infringement solution services for registering copyright owners.

The website applies big data technology similar to fingerprint analysis, enabling it to quickly identify dubious content. It monitors various online terminals including PCs, mobile phone apps, smart TVs and live streaming platforms around the clock and has a professional team dealing with rights infringement offline.

The intellectual property rights (IPR) protection environment has remarkably changed in China, both from a legal perspective and in terms of technological application, said Yan Xiaohong, head of the Copyright Monitoring Center. He hopes the website can play a bigger role in IPR protection, especially in the protection of online IPR.

The website will not only serve the copyright owners, but will provide technological support for Chinese authorities' campaigns targeting online piracy, according to the center.