China expresses concern over U.S. 'notorious markets' list
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The United States' move to put some Chinese firms on a "notorious markets" list might hurt the companies' reputation and China is concerned about the issue, a commerce ministry official said Sunday.
Li Chenggang, head of the Department of Treaty and Law under the Ministry of Commerce, expressed the concern over whether it is appropriate to issue such a report since it provided no detailed evidence.
"Even the report itself said the list represents neither the results of investigation nor the evaluation of the U.S. government," Li said at a press conference in Beijing.
Li was commenting on a list of "notorious markets" for selling counterfeit and pirated goods issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative last month. The list included China's Internet search engine Baidu, e-commerce giant Taobao as well as China's small commodities market in Yiwu of Zhejiang Province.
"We have studied the report thoroughly," he said. "Such move might have negative impacts on the reputation of the involved companies and we are concerned about it," Li said.
He noted that the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is essential for China to build an innovation-oriented country and transform from an image of "Made in China" to the one of "Create in China".
China has enhanced efforts on IPR protection over the past few years and the efforts will continue, he said.
During China's clamp-down on IPR infringements, the latest goods seized included fake alcohol, copies of Nokia and Apple mobile phones, copies of Louis Vuitton bags, Rolex watches and clothing, according to a report distributed before the press conference.
