BEIJING -- China's quality authorities handled 54,200 cases concerning infringements of intellectual property rights as well as production and sale of fake products in the first nine months of the year.

The value of the products involved was worth 3.14 billion yuan ($498.41 million), Li Yuanping, spokesman for the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, or?AQSIQ, said at a news briefing Tuesday.

He added that 731 cases had been transferred to public security organs.

During the period, the AQSIQ checked more than 4.3 million batches of exports worth $278.33 billion. Of these, 9,047 batches worth $2.62 billion were found to be substandard.

Li said the administration would in particular step up its monitoring of children's products, foodstuff, agricultural and construction materials to strengthen the fight against counterfeit products.