A Chinese lawmaker has called for more efforts from the legislature and government to protect the brand names and intellectual property of indigenous products, so as to make China's national industry more "competitive internationally".

"The state should adopt more substantial and feasible measures to protect the indigenous brands in the fields of trademark and intellectual property rights," said Yang Mianmian, the CEO of the Haier Group, China's electric appliance giant based in the eastern coastal province of Shandong.

Relevant government departments should tighten up their supervision over trademark registration to eliminate any trademark violations against the famous domestic brands, said Yang, also a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature now in its annual full session in Beijing.

As Chinese enterprises are involved in an increasing number of foreign lawsuits relating to intellectual property rights nowadays, Yang said, the government should set up some special coordinating bodies to give timely guidance to the "inexperienced enterprises" over such cases, so as to "better protect the rights and interests of the indigenous brands overseas".

Yang also suggested China's legislature learn from the experience of Western developed nations such as the United States, and endorse the principle of "buy Chinese" more explicitly in its legislation.

For example, the existing Government Procurement Law should be revised to make purchase of domestic products a compulsory obligation for all government departments, with a clear definition of penalty for those failing to do so, added Yang.

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2005)