In an effort to crack down on fake goods Beijing's Xiushui Market, better known as Silk Street market, has set up an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Protection Fund. The 30-million-yuan fund (US$3.6 million) comes from revenues collected from the market's tenants, the Beijing News reported Thursday.

 

On Wednesday the first group of 30 vendors at the popular tourist shopping haunt received a total of 10 million yuan in rent refunds from the market as a reward for respecting IPR protection laws last year. General manager Wang Zili said the market would endeavor to gradually improve its image.

Xiushui has two main markets--one selling traditional goods such as silk and tea mainly to overseas customers and the other selling?fashionable clothes and ornaments mainly to domestic customers.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2006)