China carries out biggest bust of fake goods in Guangdong

Asian Economic News, Oct 23, 2000

BEIJING, Oct. 16 Kyodo

State officials have carried out the largest-ever bust of fake-goods makers in Guangdong, raiding 29 factories just as U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property Todd Dickinson arrived in China, local media reported.

A team of 180 officers under Li Chuanqing, chief of China's State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, confiscated items from the factories worth an estimated 12 million yuan ($1.4 million), according to the Guangzhou daily Yangcheng Wangbao on Sunday.

The items seized ranged from tens of thousands of lithium batteries and Parker pens to motorcycles and fax machines carrying Panasonic, Canon and Sanyo brand names.

Guangdong Vice Governor Zhong Qichuan oversaw the operation to ensure that local security did not obstruct the mission's success, the evening paper said.

China is currently carrying out an anti-counterfeiting campaign launched in late August as it prepares to join the World Trade Organization.

Although Dickinson, who concurrently serves as director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, said there was no direct relation between his visit and any aspect of China's WTO accession, he did say that the time is ripe for dialogue on intellectual property (IP) between China and the U.S.

Dickinson told a press conference in Beijing that China is ''making headway'' in IP protection, but said that with regard to enforcement and public awareness ''there is still a way to go.''

Patent, trademark and copyright infringements are a major hindrance to business in China, where official sources say up to 70% of goods in some markets are fakes.

Rampant counterfeiting is especially costly to U.S. businesses, some of which report they spend half their worldwide budgets fighting IP infringements in China, Dickinson said.

He also said Chinese leaders, especially Premier Zhu Rongji, are well aware of the problem and of the importance of developing IP protection to developing a modern ''knowledge-based'' economy.