Authorities pledged on Thursday to crack down on copyright infringements of calligraphy and paintings, which has been a rising problem in China in recent years.

"With the art collection market heating up, the sale of fake paintings and calligraphy works has become quite widespread. An industry chain has been even created,” said Wang Zhicheng, deputy director-general of the copyright department at the National Copyright Administration.

He said the authority has been focusing on the fight against pirated books and audiovisual products and will pay more attention to the problems of the paintings and calligraphy in the future.

Fan Cungang, deputy manager of Beijing Rongbao Auctions Co Ltd, said that about 4,000 works of Qi Baishi, one of the most famous Chinese painters, are available in the market, but a much bigger number of works, which are claimed to be his are on sale in more than 100 auction houses in Beijing.

"The clampdown on the fake works will be a great comfort for master Qi," Fan said of the painter, who died in 1957.

Zhang Ping, an intellectual property professor at Peking University, said that more criminal punishments should be handed out to fight against copyright infringements.