China Cleaning Up Black EconomyChina hits fake goods 'black economy'
BEIJING - The Chinese government is taking more than a Band-Aid approach
to its crackdown on counterfeiting. In fact, a secret factory counterfeiting the
famous US brand of bandages has been discovered and closed down in
Shangrao City in East China's Jiangxi province.
The factory's facilities, raw materials and 316 cases of fake goods worth
560,000 yuan (about US$67,700) were confiscated. Authorities said that it was
the largest secret factory counterfeiting a single product in the country.
However, this is only one success in an ongoing campaign against China's
"black economy", one of its commitments to the World Trade Organization
(WTO). In the past month, the State Administration of Quality Supervision and
Quarantine has closed down 1,090 secret factories and settled 13,000 cases
dealing with counterfeit goods.
Hundreds of thousands of law enforcers across the country are swooping on
illegal underground factories. Counterfeit operations connected with medicine,
foodstuffs, agricultural materials and assembled automobiles are the main
targets of the campaign. Armed police officers are inspecting highways to block
counterfeit cargo being transported in disguised military vehicles. Commodities
inspections and quarantine drives at ports are being tightened up to ensure
substandard or counterfeit goods are not being exported.
"The Chinese government is a responsible government. We are capable of and
confident with our ability to solve the counterfeiting problem," said Li
Chuanqing, deputy director of the State Administration of Quality Supervision
and Quarantine. Li stressed that the crackdown is a huge, long-term task for
the government, and efforts will be made to keep the campaign going steadily.
Li said that the government will pay more attention to product quality during the
Tenth Five-Year Plan period (2001-05). It is determined to support the
development of famous brand products that are competitive and popular. The
government will insist on improving product quality as well as cracking down on
counterfeiting, he said.
As an important step in the campaign, governments are improving their
information network and a blacklist of counterfeiters will be available to law
enforcers across the country to assist with monitoring and prevention of
counterfeiting.
Laws relating to the punishment of counterfeiters have been revised. These
include the Patent Law, the Trademark Law, and the Pharmaceutical
Administration Law. The Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Supreme
People's Court have published the latest information on the practical use of the
revised laws in cases related to counterfeiting so that it can be used in lawsuits
against counterfeiters.
Counterfeiting not only harms the public but also spoils the country's
environment for attracting foreign investment. "Counterfeiting has dampened
the enthusiasm of foreign investors in China," said Ding Yinglie, a professor at
Qinghua University.
A Shanghai-based US-funded company claimed in a report recently that
counterfeiting has annually brought about a loss of 350 million yuan to the
company in recent years.
Wang Jun, a professor at the University of International Business and
Economics, said that China's tough crackdown on counterfeiting will not only
protect the public interest, but will also create fair competition and a healthy
economic order for China with the largest market in the world.
The crackdown has been highly praised by foreign investors. "We welcome the
Chinese government's unremitting efforts in cracking down on counterfeiting to
protect the legal rights of famous brand names," said Zhong Zhefu, chairman of
the Quality Brand Protection Committee under China Association of Foreign
Funded Enterprises.