China says their copyright enforcement mission is completed

Since the autumn of 2010, the Chinese government has set up a relentless anti-piracy policy. An important incentive for the stronger focus on enforcement of intellectual property right was the enduring criticism from the European Union and the United States. In the light of this succesful campaign, Mr. Jiang Zengwei, the Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce has made an interesting statement this week.

Mr. Jiang declared the recent enforcement action a success, but also indicated that the authorities will now shift their focus towards other issues: 

    “Marking the end of a nine-month campaign against intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement with cases worth 3.43 billion yuan ($530 million), the situation has taken a turn for the better.”

    "You could say that there still exist some problems with China's IPR, but I don't endorse the idea that it is still extremely serious," Jiang told reporters at a press conference.

  Mr.  Jiang said police has shutdown 12,854 illegal factories and warehouses making and selling pirated and counterfeit goods. In addition, 9,031 suspects have been arrested since the crackdown began in late October. Even a complete Disneyland-look-alike amusement park was closed down because of massive copyright infringements. 

Despite the undeniable succes of the strict enforcement policy, it is unlikely that enforcement work in China is now done. In May, the U.S. Trade Representative's office has listed China as a country with one of the worst records for preventing copyright theft for the seventh consecutive year. Chinese piracy and counterfeiting of U.S. software and a wide range of other intellectual property cost American businesses alone an estimated $48 billion and 2.1 million jobs in 2009, the U.S. International Trade Commission said in May. The EU and the US will undoubtedly repeat their criticism if the level of IPR protection will fall back to its original level.

Sources: Reuters; Techdirt