BOAO, Hainan, April 22 (Xinhua) - Delegates from overseas enterprises showed their appreciation to China's efforts in the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) Saturday at a breakfast meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2006. They also made constructive suggestions on problems that need to be addressed by the Chinese government.

    "We recently found a Chinese company which duplicated our company's website and provided transportation service under our name,"said Ken Torok, president of Asia Pacific Region of the United Parcel Service Singapore Pte Ltd. "But it was immediately cracked down after we reported it to the relevant Chinese department."

    He said he is quite pleased to see the progress that the Chinese government has made to protect trade marks, and he hoped that China will continue its efforts to improve its IPR protection to a new level.

    Kevin Wale, president and managing director of GM China group and Andre Dallaire, CEO of Northeast Asia, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies also gave positive comments to China's progress in IPR protection. However, Wale pointed out that there are still small companies and factories in some areas in China, which are involved in counterfeiting products of famous brand names. "This has affected the overall reputation of Chinese enterprises," he said, "more measures should be taken to crackdown the infringement of IPR across the country."

    The Chinese government has taken the initiative to crack down most of the trade mark violation cases, said Li Dongsheng, deputy-director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, while introducing the situation of the country's IPR protection. He stressed that the whole society should make concerted efforts alongside the government for IPR protection.

    The rapid development of the Chinese economy is based on the improved IPR protection, said Bo Xilai, minister of commerce, in mid-April. He said the IPR protection has already become a basic national policy and is launched for the country's self-development.

    "We have not started to provide products of IPR violation insurance in China, but we will begin to provide such service next year or in the next few years," said Dallaire. "So we're very concerned with the measures of IPR protection launched by the Chinese government."

    The price the IPR violators have to pay is still low in China, which is not enough to keep people away from violation, said Gong Li, chairman of greater China, Accenture Company, who also suggested that the Chinese public awareness of IPR protection needs to be improved.

    "The Chinese government is trying to solve those problems," said Li Dongsheng, "the relevant departments will protect the rights of both domestic and overseas companies according to law." He said that the Chinese government will improve the awareness of enterprises and the public on IPR protection. He expressed the hope that foreign enterprises will try to learn more about Chinese laws, and thus will be able to take appropriate measures to protect their rights in China.Enditem