Chinese customs authorities uncovered 1,914 cases of intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement in the first three quarters of 2007.

Goods involved in these cases were worth 230 million yuan (US$30.95 million), said the General Administration of Customs (GAC) in a report on its website.

The GAC has stepped up its efforts in IPR protection since it launched a five-month nationwide campaign named "Dragon Boat" on Oct. 1.

The campaign mainly targets IPR-infringing exports to the United States, the European Union, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates by shipment and mail.

Last month, customs authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou uncovered 23 infringement cases and seized 32,800 fake Louis Vuitton, Nokia and Adidas products.

On Nov. 5, a man was caught at Beijing Capital International Airport carrying nearly 2,000 counterfeit wristwatches bearing Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Rolex trademarks.

"Since its WTO entry, China has made tremendous progress in IPR protection," said Zhang Hanlin, president of the WTO Research Institute under the University of International Business and Economics.

"If China wants to make headway in its industry upgrading, it has to rely on its own core technologies and brands."

On Nov. 1, 10 sets of pirated Beijing Olympic Mascot cartoon series were uncovered at an airport in the southeastern city Xiamen.

"China is attaching greater importance to IPR protection not only because of pressures from foreign countries but also from the need to protect its (own domestic) products," said Zhang.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2007)