An official with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MFTEC) told foreign participants to Fourth China Fair for International Investment and Trade, which opened Friday, that China's economy has developed rapidly over the past two decades.

However, the official pointed out, activities involving counterfeit trademarks remains a serious problem. A survey on 146 foreign-funded enterprises, carried out by the development and research center under the State Council, revealed that these enterprises suffered a loss of 1.6 billion yuan from counterfeit products in 1998.

At the same time, the encroachment of foreign IPR has also damaged the Chinese economy seriously, the official said.

In recent years, the Chinese government has established a legal system which protects the IPR.

According to the official, China has launched a campaign to crack down on activities involving encroachment of IPR and pirating, and activities to protect trademarks and IPR. China will take more severe measures to deal with such illegal activities in the future.

The official said China is revising and perfecting its laws on patent, trademark and copyright, in accordance with the basic rules of the World Trade Organizations (WTO). China's judicial and administrative departments have also taken timely and effective measures to crack down on activities involving copyright infringements.

The China Association of Foreign-funded Enterprises said more significant measures are being taken to crack down on local protectionism to deal with activities involving pirating and making fake commodities.

(People’s Daily)