NANCHANG, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China's top intellectual
property rights (IPR) official lashed out on Tuesday at the United States' WTO
complaint over alleged "copyright piracy" in China.
"It's not a sensible move for the U.S. government to file
such complaint," said Tian Lipu, commissioner of the Intellectual Property
Office, at a national meeting of IPR officials in Nanchang, capital of east
China's Jiangxi Province.
By doing so, the United States had ignored the Chinese
government's immense efforts and great achievements in strengthening IPR
protection and tightening enforcement of its copyright laws, Tian said.
"Such efforts are continuous and China has never
slackened," he told Xinhua.
Tian cited a new judicial interpretation issued by the
Supreme People's Court last week that lowered the threshold for prosecuting
manufacturers and vendors of counterfeit intellectual property products.
The new rules state that anyone who manufactures 500 or
more counterfeit copies (discs) of computer software, music, movies, TV shows
and other audio-video products can be prosecuted and faces a prison term of up
to three years.
They replace the 2004 rules whose net only extended to
those who produced 1,000 pirated discs.
"It's a practical move and indicates China's determination
to fight piracy," said Tian. "But the United States has filed a WTO complaint
right when China is forging ahead with its IPR protection efforts."
A digital technology firm in central China's Hubei
Province was recently fined 10,000 yuan (1,293 U.S. dollars) for illegally
copying Windows server 2003 and Office 2003, and was told to stop piracy
immediately, the provincial IPR office said.
In the largest single crackdown on CD and DVD piracy in
China's history, more than 1.81 million pirated CDs and DVDs were seized in a
factory in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province on March 17,
according to the local government.
Thirty production machines in 11 warehouses were
confiscated and 13 people arrested in the case.
China also announced that it planned last week to improve
the transparency of intellectual property rights (IPR) trials by allowing
foreigners to sit in.
"We hope the United States would make objective evaluation
of China's IPR efforts," said Tian.
A leading IPR specialist said IPR protection was a
universal issue.
"The United States itself is not immune to piracy," said
Prof. He Jiasheng, of Wuhan University. "A special U.S. survey on piracy
indicates its software industry alone loses 3.2 billion U.S. dollars of profits
a year to IPR violators."
While Chinese companies and individuals needed to
consciously reject pirated products, Tian said international cooperation was
also crucial. "To do a better job in combating piracy, we need dialogue and
cooperation, not confrontation and condemnation."
Tian said he hoped the United States would work with China
in exploring ways to make IPR protection more effective and further tighten
enforcement of copyright laws.
IPR protection, Tian said, also served China's goal for
overall development. "Whether the Americans take us to the WTO or not won't
affect the Chinese government's determination to protect IPR and combat
copyright piracy."
The U.S. government announced on Monday it was filing two
new trade cases against China over "copyright piracy and restrictions on the
sale of American movies, music and books there".
On Tuesday, China expressed its great regret and strong
dissatisfaction at the U.S. decision to file WTO cases against China over
intellectual property rights and access to the Chinese publication market.
"The Chinese government has always been firm in IPR
protection and its achievements are for everyone to see. China and the United
States have also maintained sound communication and consultation on the access
to the Chinese publication market," the Ministry of Commerce said in a
statement.
The United States' action against China contradicted the
consensus between Chinese and U.S. leaders to bolster bilateral trade and
economic relations and properly settle all trade disputes, it said, adding that
such a move would "seriously harm the existing Sino-U.S. cooperative relations"
and have "a negative impact on bilateral trade and economic relations".
The Chinese government had not yet received a request for
consultations from the United States, but would deliberate on and actively
respond to a formal request, it said.
Though the U.S. action overshadowed Sino-U.S. relations, a
senior Chinese researcher said he did not think it would have little negative
impact on the upcoming Strategic Economic Dialogue.
"After all, the United States and
China have to follow a course that serves their mutual best interests," said
Zhang Yansheng, director of the International Economic Research Institute under
the National Development and Reform Commission.
BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China
expressed on Tuesday great regret and strong dissatisfaction at the decision of
the United States to file WTO cases against China over intellectual property
rights and access to the Chinese publication market.
"The decision runs contrary to the
consensus between the leaders of the two nations about strengthening bilateral
trade ties and properly solving trade disputes", said Wang Xinpei, spokesman
with the Ministry of Commerce. Full
story
WASHINGTON, April 9 (Xinhua) --
The U.S. government on Monday filed two trade cases against China in the World
Trade Organization (WTO) over copyright piracy and restrictions on the sale of
American books, music, videos and movies.
The two new cases represent the
latest effort by the Bush administration to increase pressure on China in the
trade area despite Beijing's active efforts in cracking down on piracy. Full
story
BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) --
The Chinese government expresses strong dissatisfaction about the U.S. decision
to impose penalty tariffs against the imports of Chinese coated free sheet
paper, Wang Xinpei, spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, said early
Saturday.
The Department of Commerce of
the United States on Friday announced its preliminary decision to apply U.S.
anti-subsidy law to the imports of coated free sheet paper from China.Full
story
BEIJING, April 5 (Xinhua) --
Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo said here Thursday that China and the United
States have many more common interests than differences.
Bilateral cooperation in various
fields "has brought substantial benefits to both countries and both peoples", Wu
insisted. Full
story
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