Visiting US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez has acknowledged China's efforts to protect intellectual property rights (IPR), saying it is "showing an increasing ability to deal with this very complex matter."

Speaking at a roundtable on IPR protection yesterday, he listed a number of achievements.

In one case, co-operation between Chinese and US law enforcement agencies led to the seizure of fake Tamiflu, a drug used to fight bird flu.

He also noted that Chinese courts have ruled in favour of protecting the trademarks and patents of among others Pfizer, General Motors, Starbucks and Kodak.

China has revoked more than 360 business licences for audiovisual products since July because they were involved in piracy.

The Chinese Government now insists that legal operating system software be pre-loaded on all computers produced in China or imported from overseas, which has led to a noticeable drop in software piracy.

The US trade chief praised China for increasing punishment of counterfeiters, but, he said: "The reality of course is we are still behind the criminals and pirates."

A mutually beneficial trade relationship depends on a number of factors, and IPR protection is critical, Gutierrez said.

He said China should lower criminal thresholds for prosecuting those involved in commercial piracy and counterfeiting, and allow greater market access for audiovisual products.

Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai said the Chinese Government regards IPR protection as a national strategy. "We will show no mercy in the fight against IPR infringements," he said.

According to Bo, in 2005 public security departments arrested 2,119 people involved in piracy, up 56 per cent on the previous year. The total value of the pirated goods involved was 1.28 billion yuan, (US$160 million), up 366 per cent.

The number of IPR infringements investigated by China's police departments in the first 10 months of this year rose to 1,900, up more than 30 per cent, said Wu Heping, spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security.

"This shows that the police has strengthened its crackdown on IPR infringements and that the public supports the police in fighting such cases," he said.

Zhang Shiqiong, a lawyer specialized in IPR protection, said China's laws on the issue "are very close to those in developed countries." But more needs to be done in strengthening enforcement at provincial or lower levels, which he warned would take a long time.

In another development, the visiting US commerce chief said the US Government would issue new rules to clarify requirements for technology exports to China in a few months.

"The new rules will be an improvement because they will be more focused and more specific," Gutierrez said. "They provide predictability, and that should make things clearer for both parties."

The US published a draft regulation on high-tech exports in July tightening restrictions on exports to China.

Editor: Yan