Member agencies of the Chinese national working group on intellectual property (IP) protection released their 2007 Action Plan on April 23, according to a Xinhua news release of the same date. The full text of the plan in English is available on the Xinhua website, while a full text version of the plan in Chinese is available on the People's Daily website.
The plan proposes a number of steps aimed at improving intellectual property protection in China, including enforcement campaigns, legislative reform, popular education activities, and increased international exchanges.
The move comes after the United States filed complaints with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on April 10 that accuse Beijing of law enforcement of copyright and trademark protections and failure to remove import and distribution restrictions on copyrighted U.S. goods including newspapers, magazines and video games, according to an April 11 Associated Press article reprinted on the International Herald Tribune website. In a break with prior trade practices, American authorities also recently moved to impose steep tariffs on Chinese manufactured paper, according to a March 31 New York Times article.
The release of the 2007 Action Plan may be aimed at combating the growth of protectionist trade pressures in the United States. After US authorities filed the WTO cases, the head of the Chinese IP bureau condemned the move, stated that Chinese authorities "hope that the Uhited States will make an objective evaluation of China's IP efforts," and expressed willingness to cooperate with American authorities in addressing IP violations, according to an April 10 Xinhua article.
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