Warner Music, the giant United States-based record company, has criticised Beijing for continuing to restrict the investment of foreign record companies, while the trade in pirated compact discs grows rapidly.
Warner Asia Pacific chairman Lachie Rutherford said the mainland was willing to tackle the problem, but simply did not know where to start.
Last week, the recording industry lobby group, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), said that domestic piracy levels alone on the mainland had reached 90 per cent.
This gave it the highest piracy penetration rate in the world.
It said the mainland saw almost 100 per cent growth in the pirate market with a proliferation of different disc formats.
'There is now almost no legitimate industry,' said Mr Rutherford. 'It is ironic that the Chinese Government is concerned about the entry of foreign record companies into China, because of concerns, if you like, of cultural pollution . . . but in fact it is piracy that is providing the spread of pornography.' He said Warner was already in discussion with the mainland over how best to tackle the problem.
