Summary: EU Trade Commissioner Mandelson urges China to improve market access, step up fight on piracy or risk protectionist backlash (Brussels, 8 June 2006)
In a speech at Renmin University in Beijing today, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has called on China to move to meet its outstanding WTO commitments or risk a backlash in Europe against its perceived trading power. Arguing that Europe for its part had to have "the confidence to welcome China's economic resurgence", Mandelson also insisted that if China did not provide better access for EU investment and trade, improved protection of intellectual property rights and the
dismantling of export incentives and other forms of trade-distorting subsidy, it would provoke a negative protectionist response in Europe. Mandelson concluded: "The more the Chinese door swings open, the more European citizens will understand our shared interests"
In his speech at Renmin University Commissioner Mandelson argued: "China is destined to enjoy a pivotal role in the world economy for decades to come. But economic leadership also brings with it responsibilities - to respect and support open markets, to apply rather than circumvent the rules and, above all, to ensure that the benefits of open markets are shared by all...Both Europe and China have to commit to openness. In Europe that means resisting the pressures for protectionism. In China, it
means China living up to its WTO responsibilities to allow full and genuine market access for European goods and services, freedom to invest, and protection for the rights of European companies."
Mandelson concluded: "We need to see what we are doing as shaping a grand bargain. The more the Chinese door swings open and the world sees a responsible China playing by the rules, the more our ordinary citizens will be able to understand our shared interests".
Stepping up the fight on piracy
Yesterday in Beijing Commissioner Mandelson and Vice Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce Ma Xiuhong, alongside representatives from the Beijing Municipal government and the Beijing Intellectual Property Office, participated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Beijing retail markets and foreign brand owners in the sportswear and fashion industries to join the fight against the sale of counterfeit goods in Beijing retail markets. The agreement is an attempt to head
off further litigation against Beijing retail market landlords through a voluntary agreement to crack down on intellectual property theft and piracy.
Landlords have agreed that upon evidence of a first copyright violation by a particular vendor, they will suspend the operations of the vendor for a certain period. Following a second report of the sale of counterfeit goods of any of the participating brands by the same vendor, that vendor's lease would be terminated and the vendor ejected from the market.
The landlords of major Beijing retail markets such as Silk Street, Hongqiao and others have also agreed to work with the brand owners to develop a new standard rental agreement which clarifies the obligations of vendors to respect intellectual property rights and sets out the potential consequences for counterfeiting in greater detail. Regular market surveys in these major Beijing markets will test the 'Two Strike Rule' and report the results directly to the landlords for their action. As long
as the landlords implement this agreement, brand owners will not litigate directly against them. If successful, brand owners will pursue similar agreements with landlords of major markets in other major cities in China, including those in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Speaking at the signing, Commissioner Mandelson said: "The protection of intellectual property goes to the heart of our economic relations. That is why this initiative is highly significant and should be an important step to maintain confidence in these markets: I hope we can build further on this foundation."
For more information on EU-China trade relations please visit the European Commission's trade website
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