A senior Chinese official urged Apple to "actively respond" to claims by Chinese authors that their work is being sold without a license in the App Store.

"The claims are found to be true after an initial investigation,” said Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP).

Yan said Apple should give high priority to this issue, respect the Chinese market, and respond actively.

The service provider should remove the products after receiving complaints from copyright holders, otherwise they bear joint liability, according to Regulations on the Protection of the Right of Communication through Information Network, Yan added.