Microsoft said it was grateful to the Chinese government and its law enforcement agencies for their efforts in cracking down on software pirates, said Liu Fengming, vice president of Microsoft in China.

The verdict showed China's determination in combating piracy and protecting intellectual property rights, said Liu.

Hong set up the tomatolei.com site in 2004 and created the Tomato Garden version of the Windows XP, which soon became one of China's most popular pirated software system.

In June last year, the Business Software Alliance, of which Microsoft is a member, complained to China's National Copyright Administration and the Ministry of Public Security about the copyright infringement of Hong's team.

Hong and his partners were arrested between August and December last year.

Fan Yong, lawyer of Gongruan Networking Co. Ltd., told Xinhua that his client will decide whether to appeal to Suzhou Intermediate People's Court within 10 days.