Chinese Customs authorities stepped up their efforts in intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection by launching a five-month nationwide campaign on October 1.

The campaign named "Dragon Boat" was the largest IPR protection effort by Customs agencies in recent years, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Customs across the country uncovered some 433 cases of IPR infringement, or about 14 cases a day, in only one month after the action began, an increase of 57 percent from a year earlier.

The campaign mainly targets IPR-infringing products exported through shipping channels and the mail to the United States, the European Union, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

Last month, Customs authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou uncovered 23 infringement cases and seized 32,800 fake Louis Vuitton, Nokia and Adidas products.

On November 5, a man was detained at Beijing Capital International Airport after he was found with nearly 2,000 counterfeit wristwatches bearing Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Rolex trademarks.

"Since its WTO entry, China has made tremendous progress in IPR protection," says Zhang Hanlin, president of the WTO Research Institute under the University of International Business and Economics.

"If China wants to make headway in its industry upgrades, it has to rely on its own core technologies and brands."

Chinese Customs uncovered 1,914 cases of IPR infringement in the first three quarters of 2007 that involved goods valued at 230 million yuan, said the General Administration of Customs.

Due to the central government's call for an innovative country, IPR protection has been further highlighted.

"China is attaching greater importance to IPR protection not only because of pressure from foreign countries but also from the need to protect its (own domestic) products," says Zhang.

Shenzhen Customs dealt with 213 cases of infringement of IPRs in the first six months of this year. The figure represented a year-on-year increase of 112 percent.

A wide range of goods, including handbags, garments, watches, mobile phones, shoes, cosmetics, food and electronic products were involved. The estimated value was 15 million yuan, up 38 percent from a year ago, according to Customs statistics.

"We have put strong emphasis on protecting IPRs, especially those of domestic brands that have entered the international market," says Wang Tianwei, an official of Shenzhen Customs.

At the same time it provided additional training to improve the capabilities of law enforcement officials, Shenzhen Customs also launched campaigns to increase IPR awareness among companies.

A total of 12 cases that violated the IPRs of Chinese companies were detected in the six-month period, compared to seven for the whole of last year.

Closer cooperation with the police also helped in the fight, Wang says. Customs provided three tip-offs to police during the period leading to the arrest of several people.

"Cooperation with the police has proved an effective way to curb increasing IPR infringements in both imports and exports," Wang says.

Shenzhen Customs also has joint efforts with Hong Kong Customs with which it often exchanges information.

Hong Kong Customs said the number of IPR violation cases in Guangdong had decreased as a result of close cooperation.