The municipal government of Beijing began to issue a set of handbooks on copyright protection to students of local colleges, high schools and primary schools Sunday.

　　Each of the 1.2 million students in the city will have a copy of the handbook, as part of the country's month-long public awareness campaign on "protecting legal software, fighting againstpiratical software".

　　With China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), efforts on copyright protection should be further strengthened, said a local educational official.

　　Students of all ages in Beijing comprise one of the major groups of software users, the official said, and so teaching them the rules of copyright protection is especially important.

　　The municipal government spent 1.2 million yuan on publication of the handbook.

　　Beijing will also conduct a series of education programs for students and other citizens during the campaign.