It is planned that local time will begin today, with three days of consultations between china and the united states at wto headquarters in geneva on intellectual property protection and market access for publications. At the present time, neither party has made public any recent developments, although the expert on the issue of china and the united states pointed out that, at least in the case of intellectual property protection, china is likely to eventually win suit。
China adheres to international rules
At the usual press conference last month, the spokesman for the ministry of commerce of china, wang xinpei, confirmed once again that consultations between china and the united states would take place in geneva from 5 to 8 june, on the basis of the us-sponsored competition against wto for market access to intellectual property rights and publications against china。
Consultations between china and the united states on intellectual property protection and market access for publications
On 10 april this year, the united states government referred china's intellectual property and publications market access issues to the wto terminal settlement mechanism. Wang xinpei said that on 20 april the ministry of commerce had accepted the united states request for consultations through a letter from the permanent mission of china to the wto。
In accordance with the relevant provisions of the wto dispute settlement mechanism, the proceedings will be followed by a 60-day consultation period during which the parties will endeavour to reach a negotiated settlement. In the event that consultations fail to reach agreement, wto will set up an expert group to rule on the matter. If the united states were to win the case, it would have the right to impose punitive sanctions on chinese products。
On 24 may, vice-prime minister wu yi of the state council, speaking at a dinner attended by six groups in the united states, reiterated that the action taken by the united states to complain about china's intellectual property rights was contrary not only to the consensus advocated by the leaders of the two countries to resolve their differences through dialogue, but also had a serious impact on bilateral intellectual property cooperation within the framework of the chongryon trade and trade board, which undermined the already established cooperation between the two sides on market access for publications. She stated that china would actively respond to the wto rules and join them。
In an interview with a journalist, nicholas lardy, a well-known american expert on china and a senior researcher at the institute of international economics, stated that, in the case of china, there is now a growing “professional” understanding of the rules of the international trading system, and that when the united states makes a complaint, china may more likely try to win the suit in the right direction。
“it is my understanding that china is increasingly considering how to use international rules for its own benefit, as is the case with the united states.” rhodi said。
At least the american side will lose the case
For the first time that the united states had complained to wto about its intellectual property rights, the experts said that such an approach might not be wise, since the united states was not sure that it would win, but would probably lose at least one suit, in the light of the wto rules。
On the issue of intellectual property rights, the united states filed two suits. On the one hand, market access, the united states complains that some iprs do not have adequate access, accusing china of imposing excessive restrictions on the sale of foreign books, films, etc. In china, and on the other hand, that china’s ipr enforcement is inadequate。
In response, rhodi said: “i think the united states might win the first case because they might have the relevant evidence. And in the second case, the american side has a great chance of losing. Because there are no specific criteria for the enforcement of intellectual property protection under the wto framework. In general, wto member states are not obliged to enforce ipr protection significantly more vigorously than other laws, so i find it difficult for the united states to win the suit.”
Rhodi also cited the fact that the united states itself was loose in its control of piracy, but demanded that china do better than itself, and that, regardless of the stages of economic and social development between the two countries, there was a double standard in itself。
“in the united states, as long as you walk out of a building and go out to the right, you see a stand where all kinds of pirated goods are sold centrally, not by `couped guerrillas' with baskets or blankets, but by trucks that sell hundreds of goods, from handbags and watches to dvds. And that has been the case every day of the last 10 years.”
“this situation is visible in every major city in the united states, but have these guys ever been caught? Never. Except occasionally, the police will drive them out." rhodi said。
The expert also noted that in the last complaint, the software industry in the united states was not involved, and that the united states corporate giants, including microsoft, believed that china had made significant progress in combating piracy, which further demonstrated the lack of evidence against china. (reporter zhu zhou liang)
