CHINA -- European Union customs officers seized 500 tons of counterfeited products from golf clubs to mobile phones in May and June as part of a campaign against Chinese infringements of intellectual property law.

Copies of Altria Group Inc.'s Benson & Hedges cigarettes, Nike Inc. sneakers, Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra and Motorola Inc. phones were among the more than 2 million items confiscated, the EU said in a press release distributed in Brussels today.

The announcement comes four days after European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson pressed Chinese counterpart Bo Xilai to improve the nation's trade practices. Fake goods account for as much as 9 percent of world trade and cost legitimate businesses 300 billion euros ($352 billion) a year, according to the EU.

``This can seriously undermine the efforts of the European economy to create more jobs,'' Siim Kallas, the EU's antifraud chief, said at a press conference. Europe's commissioner for customs, Laszlo Kovacs, said he'll press the Chinese to improve their record during a trip to the country next week.

China accounts for 70 percent of counterfeited goods imported into the 25-nation EU. The U.S. is also urging China to clamp down on trademark piracy, with Trade Representative Rob Portman demanding details on how the government is enforcing trade rules.

China investigated 40,171 trademark infringements and counterfeiting cases last year, up 52 percent from 2003, the Chinese State Administration for Industry and Commerce said in July. Of the total in 2004, more than 5,400 were related to foreign trademarks, an increase of 158 percent, said the agency, which is in charge of trademark investigations.