SHANGHAI - Police in east China's Shanghai announced on Tuesday they have arrested 16 suspects for producing industrial control software pirated from famous international brands.

The suspects were arrested in Fujian, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces in late March with the help of local police. Ten production and sale sources were shut down and more than 7,000 sets of the industrial control software was seized.

The pirated software was sold on the Internet at very low prices, according to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

Sun Qianren, a police officer with the bureau, said the software is mainly used to monitor equipment in industrial and infrastructure facilities. The pirated software was unstable, posing a threat to public safety, he added.