BEIJING – The top European Union trade official called on China yesterday to do more to reduce “crippling” intellectual property rights infringements.
On the third day of a five-day visit to China, Peter Mandelson urged Beijing to improve enforcement of anti-piracy laws and make it easier to prosecute violators. “Intellectual property theft is crippling for any company or economy that trades in ideas, and behind every innovative European product is an idea,” Mandelson said in a statement.The statement was issued after Mandelson visited the State Intellectual Property Office to inspect China’s efforts in the field.He urged Chinese officials to lower the threshold for prosecutable piracy cases, and to clean up street markets where pirated European goods are sold, the statement said.Mandelson welcomed the establishment of a network of centres in 50 large cities charged with investigating reports of intellectual property rights infringements, but said it was not enough.”This will be a useful tool for European companies seeking practical advice and assistance on intellectual property theft,” Mandelson said in the statement.”However, nothing will ultimately substitute for better enforcement of Chinese anti-counterfeiting laws on the ground.”In a speech to students at a Beijing university on Tuesday, Mandelson called for more action against the counterfeiting of European products in China, calling such piracy a “ball and chain on EU competitiveness.”Mandelson is in China to push its leaders to open its markets more widely to foreign imports and companies.Nampa-AFP”Intellectual property theft is crippling for any company or economy that trades in ideas, and behind every innovative European product is an idea,” Mandelson said in a statement.The statement was issued after Mandelson visited the State Intellectual Property Office to inspect China’s efforts in the field.He urged Chinese officials to lower the threshold for prosecutable piracy cases, and to clean up street markets where pirated European goods are sold, the statement said.Mandelson welcomed the establishment of a network of centres in 50 large cities charged with investigating reports of intellectual property rights infringements, but said it was not enough.”This will be a useful tool for European companies seeking practical advice and assistance on intellectual property theft,” Mandelson said in the statement.”However, nothing will ultimately substitute for better enforcement of Chinese anti-counterfeiting laws on the ground.”In a speech to students at a Beijing university on Tuesday, Mandelson called for more action against the counterfeiting of European products in China, calling such piracy a “ball and chain on EU competitiveness.”Mandelson is in China to push its leaders to open its markets more widely to foreign imports and companies.Nampa-AFP
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