BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Renowned Chinese film director Zhang Yimou called on the government to take sterner action against "rampant" film piracy, during the ongoing parliamentary session.

"Boosting copyright protection is key to the healthy development of film industry and the prosperity of cultural market," said Zhang, also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

He added that some home movies with fairly good box offices were forced to withdraw from cinema in less than two weeks as many were copied two or three days after its debut.

Zhang Yimou, submitted a proposal to the ongoing annual session of the National Committee of CPPCC, together with other five members, including Zhang Huijun, president of Beijing Film Academy, and other famed directors Feng Xiaogang, Yin Li, Feng Xiaoning and Chen Guoxing.

The proposal says although China has registered progress in intellectual property rights protection, film piracy and unauthorized broadcasting are still rampant, if not going worse, frustrating film practitioners.

China has launched several rounds of nation-wide crack-down on piracy since last year and the campaign is still going on.