The US is beginning to pressure China to announce a firm decision this spring to crack down on copyright piracy and buy US software to replace illegal copies used by Chinese government agencies, U.S. government and industry officials said.

US Commerce Undersecretary Grant Aldonas said "It'd put a big dent in the software problem, if they simply just said within the government, within the state-owned enterprises, 'We're going to buy the stuff.'" US officials were expecting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to announce firm actions to prevent piracy when he visited Washington in December, but no such announcement was made.