IPR infringements against Chinese companies on the rise

BEIJING - Chinese companies have been facing an increasing number of intellectual property right (IPR) infringement cases, a customs official said Tuesday.

Zou Zhiwu, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs (GAC), said customs seized 7.58 million units of goods suspected of infringing the IPRs of Chinese companies in 2016, up 13.2 percent from the previous year.

Last year, GAC took measures on 12 IPR protection cases in which foreign infringement violated the rights of Chinese companies, up from 4 cases in 2015.

GAC will continue its focus on IPR infringement and fake products attempting to cross the border to maintain trade order, he said.

Chinese companies are becoming more aware of IPR protection and had filed 27,873 IPRs with GAC by the end of last year, Zou said.

In 2015, GAC started a three-year campaign to protect the image of "made-in-China" products internationally, with a focus on products exported to Africa, Arab countries, Latin America and countries along the Belt and Road.

Zou said the country had seized 43,300 shipments of goods suspected of IPR infringement during the campaign.