(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-29 21:50

"We honored the pioneers to encourage stronger law enforcement and more excellent practice in IPR protection that can correspond with the efforts the Chinese government made after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO)," said CAEFI executive vice-chairman Liu Zhiben.

In a bid to create a better market and investment environment for foreign companies, China's supreme court has issued more than 20 judicial interpretations related to IPR protection since 2001, when China joined the WTO.

It has ordered the establishment of special courts for IPR cases nationwide and lowered the threshold to prosecute people manufacturing or selling counterfeit products.

China's legislation in IPR protection is up to international standards,said Sun Hailong, vice-president of the Xi'an Intermediate People's Court, which handled the GE case.

"China has already made great progress in legislation and policies, but we'd like to see tougher enforcement," said Michael O'Sullivan, secretary general of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

He hoped Chinese copyright and patent owners would get more involved in pursuit of cases and criminal thresholds would be further lowered.

China's actions on IPR protection remained the first issue of interest to foreign companies when visiting China, said Barbalas. "Counterfeiting is getting worse, which means more people are doing it in large volumes."

Official data show Chinese courts dealt with 2,962 IPR infringement cases in the past five years, 133 percent more than the previous five years.

Cross-border IPR crimes were on the rise, though specific data was unavailable, said QBPC chairman Jack Chang. "In a good number of cases, foreigners brought samples from abroad and opened factories in China to make counterfeit items, as China boasts a mature processing industry."

The QBPC would focus on tackling challenges of organized international counterfeiting groups and regional protectionism, said Liu.

On Friday, 21 Chinese law enforcement agencies were recognized as "pioneers" by the QBPC, which comprises 177 foreign companies with a combined investment of more than US$70 billion  in China.

Sun Hailong said he and his colleagues just did an ordinary job.

"We handled the GE case just as we did others," said Sun. "Foreign companies should have better knowledge of China's laws and trust in Chinese law enforcers."

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