China has set up a national system for protecting intellectual
property rights (IPR) with the establishment of a comprehensive IPR
service center on Monday in Yiwu City in the eastern coastal
province of Zhejiang.
The center is the last of 50 IPR service centers that have been
set up in 31 provinces and cities in partnership with
foreign-funded enterprises. The centers are responsible for
receiving and handling complaints about IPR infringements and
offering consulting services.
The founding of the system aims to strengthen China's efforts in
protecting IPR and crack down on copyright violations, said Yao
Guanghai, deputy secretary-general of the National Office of
Intellectual Property Rights Protection.
Anyone who requires professional IPR serves can call the hotline
12312.
Yiwu in central Zhejiang is well known as a daily commodities
wholesale market, with an annual business volume of nearly 30
billion yuan (US$3.75 billion). It is also a target of campaigns to
clamp down on fake and pirated goods.
In the first half of the year, the authorities made 1,076 IPR
infringement related prosecutions, according to the General
Administration of Customs (GAC).
In an effort to show its resolve of cracking down on piracy, the
State Council, China's highest governing body, said that it would
punish officials who fail to enforce IPR protection.
(Xinhua News Agency August 29, 2006)
