BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese customs seized 7.1 million items suspected of intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement in the first half of this year as the country steps up IPR protection, official data showed.

Of all the items, about 6.9 million were seized due to involvement in trademark infringement, which protects more than 2,200 trademark rights of domestic and foreign enterprises, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

Chinese customs also worked with its Russian counterpart between March and June against IPR infringement of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, during which more than 500,000 items were seized by the two sides.

Chinese enterprises are increasingly aware of IPR protection. In H1, the GAC approved 2,796 applications for customs IPR protection, and about 4.8 million pieces of seized goods were involved in IPR infringement by Chinese enterprises, GAC data showed.

Chinese customs will keep intensifying efforts in cracking down on IPR infringement and impose harsher punishment for enterprises which violate the law, said Zhang Guangzhi, spokesman of the GAC.