Participants look at a train model at a forum featuring patented technology and intellectual property rights protection in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province. File photo: IC

Combat infringement

China has its own timeline for enhancing intellectual property rights (IPR), a longstanding focus of the government to boost innovation. Enhancing the IPR protection mechanism is not meant to cater to any US request amid the trade war, but to help the domestic market grow, analysts said.China will increase the penalties for violators of market regulations in areas such as IPR protection, so that violators will "go bankrupt" and "have no place to hide," the country's top market regulator said Monday.While acknowledging the difficulties and challenges in regulating the vast Chinese market, both online and offline, the officials also vowed to take more targeted measures to ensure market fairness and stability."Making counterfeit products is an IPR violation that must be cracked down on severely," Zhang Mao, head of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), told a press briefing on the sidelines of the two sessions."We need to significantly increase the costs of such acts to make the violators go bankrupt and publicly reveal their identities so there is no place for them to hide," Zhang said, in answer to a question about the SAMR's measures to crack down on fake goods.Damages for IPR infringement are relatively low in China, so such penalties are unlikely to play an effective role in preventing violations. It has been a major focus of the government to increase the penalties in recent years, Zhao Zhanling, an analyst at the Center for IPR Studies at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times. "The move shows that China is taking IPR protection very seriously, and it will incorporate more detailed measures from the legal perspective," he said.A new draft amendment to China's patent law was submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC) for review last December, which is also part of the country's broader efforts to boost IPR protection.Shen Changyu, head of the National Intellectual Property Administration, also said during the briefing that China aims to establish a mechanism for punitive damages for IPR infringement."[The mechanism] substantially increases the cost of infringements and stipulates compensation as high as five times [that of the damage] for intentional infringement," Shen said.He also added that other measures will be taken to further strengthen IPR protection in China, including making amendments to the country's patent law. After being approved by the State Council, the cabinet, in December 2018, the amended patent law has already been reviewed by the NPC, China's top legislative body, according to Shen, who added that the amendments could be completed this year.The country is committed to unwaveringly playing the roles of defender, participant and active builder of international IPR rules, and it will protect the legitimate IPR of domestic and foreign enterprises according to the law, which will also help China to further open up, Shen was quoted as saying in a post on the central government's website last August.The ongoing trade war between China and the US partly stemmed from the claims of IPR theft. Some have estimated that IPR theft in China costs US companies billions of dollars every year, according to media reports.While Washington asks for tougher regulations on IPR protection, Beijing's continuing efforts in the field are not designed to merely cater to US demands but to a greater extent help domestic industries to grow and upgrade."Tougher penalties are connected with the changing international trade situation, but most importantly, it is our need for industrial upgrading," Cui Fan, professor from the School of International Trade and Economics with University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times.He said as Chinese industry moves toward a market-oriented system, input on research and development is increasing and IPR standards will be higher and higher. "Although our rules to protect IPR have gotten tougher, law enforcement still has room to make progress."