BEIJING — China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) has seized 25.41 million items of goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights (IPR) in the first four months of 2021 amid the country's stepped-up IPR protection.

A total of 18,800 batches of such goods were impounded during the Jan-April period, the GAC said.

Customs nationwide approved 4,491 applications for IPR registration during the period, of which 3,930 applications were related to trademark rights, GAC data showed.

The GAC has pledged stronger IPR law enforcement, saying more focuses will be put on cross-border commerce, express delivery and other key channels, as well as various transportation modes.

In the first quarter of 2021, the country confiscated 13.33 million goods suspected of IPR infringements.