Intellectual property. IPR in China

China has taken major steps in putting in place a sound IP system since 1980 and, in particular, towards implementing the minimum standards of IPR protection provided for in the Agreement on Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), in view of its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Still, a number of EU companies suffer from a vast counterfeiting and piracy activity in China that affects their markets on a large scale. To be fully integrated in the world trading system, to continue to attract foreign investment and to become a knowledge-based economy, China has to implement all its international obligations, in particular the ones related to Intellectual Property Rights and their Enforcement.