Beijing's Silk Alley Market, famous for knock-off designer gear from North Face jackets to Louis Vuitton bags, has been raided again after state media had heralded a clean-out of fake goods.

Authorities confiscated 553 fake Nike shoes, 408 counterfeit Adidas shoes and 160 fake sports suits of the two famous brands after inspecting 11 booths, Xinhua news agency said of Saturday's raid.

More than 150 stalls selling fake brand-name goods were cleared out earlier in the month, but days later there was no evidence of lack of enthusiasm of stall holders selling pirated goods.

If you want to buy the real stuff, go to a proper store, a stallholder selling fake Harley Davidson leather jackets said at the time.

An official ... said they had dealt with dozens of cases of fake products in the shopping mall so far this year, Xinhua said. But the selling of fake goods still exists.

The market, a magnet for both local expatriates and foreign tourists, said as early as January 2005 that it would stop the sale of counterfeit ware.

That announcement came a day ahead of a visit by then U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans for an intellectual property rights forum and amid Chinese pledges to get tough on copyright violations.

The European Union and United States have maintained pressure on China to combat counterfeits, which U.S. software and entertainment firms say costs them $2.5 billion a year.

EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva is in China this week for meetings amid a series of health scares over Chinese exports from everything from seafood to toothpaste.

China