End is nigh for fake products

By Zhang Fengming  |   2008-6-18  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

CHINA'S intellectual property protection has borne fruit and China will further improve the legal system and education on the issue, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said yesterday.

Wang said more Chinese are shunning fake products and Chinese companies are developing their own brands.

"IPR protection in China has paid off," Wang said. "More and more people have begun to say no to counterfeit products and pirated software, applications for trademarks and patents have multiplied and enterprises are more aware of the importance of branding, resulting in more branded products and fewer counterfeits in the market."

The Xiangyang Street Market in Shanghai, which was once known for selling replicas of brand products, has been closed down. While Silk Street in Beijing, also known for its knockoffs, went through rectification and has since become a distribution center of famous brands.

China has unveiled the Outline of National Intellectual Property Rights, a new strategy to tackle the many issues surrounding IPR.

The strategy calls for revising laws to give greater incentives to intellectual property creators, toughening enforcement and making penalties more severe.

"This new strategy will improve IPR protection in China and attract greater intellectual resources from abroad," Wang said. "Moreover, the implementation of this strategy - a milestone in the institution of China's IPR system - will boost innovation at home and turn China's abundant human resources into intellectual resources, with a positive and far-reaching impact on economic and social development in China.

"We hope that China and the US can work more closely on intellectual property rights," said Wang.