Leading group reveals counterfeit goods still rife

Despite reinforced efforts by the Chinese government to fight against intellectual property rights violations and counterfeit products, problems still remain, according to a report unveiled on Saturday in Beijing.

The 2015 China Anti-Infringement and Counterfeiting Annual Report is the nation's first publication summarizing its efforts, achievements and challenges in the fight against IP infringement and counterfeit goods, Xinhua News Agency reported.

It includes the work of administrative and judicial departments across China, the central and local governments, 28 industry associations and some companies in the improvement of IP protection.

The report was produced by the National Combating IPR Infringement and Counterfeiting Leading Group and its member ministries and organizations, as well as provincial leading groups across the country.

The book was published in China and overseas, and will have an English edition, said Chai Haitao, deputy director-general of the national leading group.

The report said that administrative law enforcement across China handled 178,000 cases involving counterfeit goods in 2014. The police investigated more than 28,000 crimes and prosecutors handled over 18,000 lawsuits.

It quoted a survey that shows 69.4 percent of Chinese people were satisfied with IP protection in 2014, an increase of 4.5 percentage points from the previous year. The survey was conducted by the national patent, trademark and copyright associations and was unveiled in April.

A random inspection by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce shows that only 58.7 percent of products sold online were genuine last year.

"With the rise of e-commerce, the Internet has become a severely afflicted area of IP infringement and counterfeiting, which is a new challenge for traditional supervision models," said Chai.

He said that the report expected to improve IP awareness in society, promote the nation's development of IP business and help improve product quality.

Lin Xiuqin, the report's executive editor-in-chief and a law professor at Xiamen University, said the publication of the report shows the resolve of the Chinese government in its fight against IP infringement and counterfeiting.

zhangzhao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/18/2015 page17)