China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII), National Copyright Administration, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Finance have jointly issued a circular requiring all computers to be installed with legal operating system before being sold to consumers.

The circular called "Notice on Pre-installing Legitimate Software On PCs" requires all computers made in China to be pre-installed with legal software before being delivered out of the factory, and all imported computers must be installed with legal software before being sold on the Chinese market.

The circular asks PC manufacturers and software developers each to report to local government agencies about their respective sales volume and installation volume of the legal software.

Individual consumers are also obligated to report to concerned departments when they find an enterprise using pirated software.

The circular was enacted and put into force on March 30, 2006.