China pledged on Saturday to work together with other countries to defend intellectual property rights (IPR), demonstrating again its resolution in the crackdown on piracy.

The "Shanghai Initiative", passed in Shanghai by IPR protection organizations of China, European Union, the United States, and many other countries, called for intensified efforts in fighting infringements of intellectual property rights.

The document, which was also signed by Canada, Australia, France, and Germany at the China Forum on Criminal IPR Protection, suggests measures including information exchanges, and joint campaigns to uproot the production, storage, export and import, and sales of pirated products.

The joint initiative also called for more exchanges and cooperation in the judicial system against transnational crimes.

The tracking of equipment that produces piracy should also be intensified to reduce and prevent violation cases, the document said.

Zheng Shaodong, assistant minister of public security, considered the Shanghai Initiative a significant commitment made by the Chinese public security forces, which fully reveals China's resolution in the IPR protection.

The world community is facing a great challenge in the defense of IPR, as the infringement cases are conducted in a more professional way with careful organizations in the world spectrum.

Statistics show that the trade volume of pirated products accounts for 6 percent of the world's total trade turnover. More than 10 percent of the medicines in the world market are counterfeit, and the figure rises to 25 percent in some developing countries. Even 2 percent of the accessories of planes are fake.

Chinese police have uncovered over 6,700 IPR infringement cases in the past five years, involving 3.5 billion yuan (US$437.5 million).

They have detained more than 9,300 suspects for intellectual property rights violations, and broken a number of international criminal networks.

Convened by the Ministry of Public Security and National Protection of IPR Working Group Office, the forum focused on organized and international IPR violations and better cooperation between countries and between law enforcing departments and industry sectors.

China has actively drawn up IPR-related laws and regulations to improve the criminal law enforcement on IPR violations. The IPR-related criminals will get three to seven years of imprisonment and financial penalties in accordance with different types of infringements.

Zheng said that Chinese police have been working with international organizations to exchange information on IPR violation, investigate IPR-related cases and provide legal assistance to crack down on international rings. 

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2006)