China's software piracy rate dropped 2 percentage points from 2009 to 2010, according to results from a latest survey.

The survey conducted by Internet research firm Chinalabs showed the overall piracy rate declined from 14 percent to 12 percent, according to Saturday's China Daily.

The State Intellectual Property Office commissioned Chinalabs to track such data since 2005. More than 4,800 individual and corporate respondents across the country participated.

According to the survey, the commercial value of the illegitimate software last year was up by 1.55 percent, to 130.94 billion yuan (about 20.1 billion U.S. dollars).

Losses caused by the piracy accounted for 9 percent of the Chinese software market in 2010, down from 12 percent in 2009, the survey showed.

The decline in the piracy rate was attributed to government campaigns to increase the use of legitimate software, the emergence of cheaper products offered by domestic companies, the wider availability of free programs and more diversified software distribution channels.

Governments and large companies were urged to continue support in promoting legitimate software, which will reassure the software industry and guide consumers.

(Source:english.sipo.gov.cn)