China has set up a national system for protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) with the establishment of a comprehensive IPR service center on Monday in Yiwu city in China's eastern coastal province of Zhejiang.

The center is the last one of 50 IPR service centers set up in China's 31 provincial areas and some booming cities with many foreign-funded enterprises. The centers are responsible for receiving and handling complaints about IPR infringements and offering consulting services.

The founding of the system aims to strengthen China's efforts in protecting IPR and crack down on copyright violations, said Yao Guanghai, deputy secretary-general of the National Office of Intellectual Property Rights Protection.

Any one who calls the hotline 12312 can get professional services, Yao said.

Yiwu in central Zhejiang is well-known as a daily commodities wholesale market, with an annual business volume of nearly 30 billion yuan (3.75 billion U.S dollars). It is also a target in campaigns aimed at cracking down on fake and pirated goods in China.

In the first half of the year, China prosecuted 1,076 cases of intellectual property rights infringement, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

In an effort to show its resolve of cracking down on copyright piracy, The State Council, China's highest governing body, said that it would punish officials who fail to enforce intellectual property rights protection.

2006-08-29

2006-08-29