After an expert evaluation, 2009 China Software Piracy Rate Investigation Report was announced on May 10. The result showed that value-based piracy rate dropped from 15% in 2008 to 12% in 2009.

The downward trend of piracy rate can be attributed to: the preinstallation of licensed software by PC makers; deep price cut of popular software such as Microsoft; rapid distribution of free word processing and anti-virus software, such as WPS and 360; more sales channels convenient for consumers; the reduction of reinstalling times by licensed software..

Ni Guangnan, a Fellow with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the deep price cut and prevalent use of domestic free or budget software are major causes of the decline.

(China IP News)