Chinese Law and Politics Blog

Chinese Authorities Release 2007 Action Plan on Intellectual Property Protection

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.

Text of Chinese Property Law Released

On March 16, the Chinese National People's Congress passed the P.R.C. Property Law.  The full text of the law is available on the P.R.C. government website, and commentary and analysis is available from Xinhua.

The above Xinhua link has gone dead (as of April 1), but it and the pages to which it refers are still available through the Google cache.

An English translation of the Property Law is available from Lehman, Lee, and Xu.

Chinese Property Law Moves Towards Consideration by National Legislature

China's draft Property Law is moving towards consideration and adoption by the National's People's Congress (NPC) at the legislative session which begins on March 5, 2007, according to a January 20 Xinhua article.  The draft law has gone through an unprecedented seven readings by the NPC since first being introduced in 2002.   For a timeline of the bill, provided by the official Chinese Xinhua news agency, see here.

The draft Property law has stirred significant opposition among both Chinese politicians and academics concerned about the ideological implications of legal protections for private property.  In 2006, NPC consideration of the draft law was delayed after a Beijing law professor attacked the bill in a open letter published on the Internet, as noted in a March 10, 2006 Financial Times article.  His assertion that the bill failed to protect state property and undermined the socialist system gathered (or reflected) sufficient attention from central authorities to delay it's consideration until this year.

Subsequent amendments to the draft law made in 2006 appear aimed at responding to some of these concerns, adding clauses providing for the equal protection of state and private property.