Traders in Beijing's new indoor Silk Market were targeted by
inspectors on Monday, who seized hundreds of items in breach of
trademark regulations.
Officials from the Beijing Municipal Administration for Industry
and Commerce combed the 1,500 stalls before confiscating 119
imitation North Face garments and 100 fake Boss and Gucci
shirts.
The traders involved were placed on file for investigation and
possible further punishment.
Before moving in to seize goods, plainclothes inspectors were
dispatched posing as customers interested in buying designer
branded items.
When traders offered them fake products, uniformed officials and
representatives from the Jianwai Industry and Commerce Office moved
in to seize them.
Li Li, a spokesperson for the industry and commerce
administration's Chaoyang branch, said that some traders are not
openly displaying fake brands to avoid detection, but keep them
hidden until they believe it is safe to show them to customers.
On March 19, the market moved from its previous outdoor location
on Jianguomenwai Street to an adjacent purpose built five-floor
mall. It has maintained popularity among tourists shopping for fake
brand name products.
As the name suggests, the market was initially famous for
selling silk clothes and other traditional products, but later
gained infamy as an easy place to pick up fake designer brands.
The industry and commerce authority has urged the market's
management to step up efforts to exclude those who sell fake
brands.
Wu Weishuang, marketing manager of the Beijing Xiushui Haosen
Dress Company, responsible for operating the market, said: "Those
caught selling fake products for the first time will receive
warnings. If they are caught a second time their goods will be
seized. If they are caught a third time, they will be ordered to
stop trading in the market."
He vowed that Silk Market would no longer be an easy home for
bogus goods and insisted that progress had already been made.
"Fake products seized this time make up only 0.3 percent of the
market's total stock," he said.
(China Daily, People's Daily March 31,
2005)