At a recent IPR working meeting at the fair, MOFTEC's Vice-Minister Sun Zhenyu called for "full awareness of the importance of IPR protection from the political, economic and diplomatic heights."

Sun said China has perfected its laws on IPR protection and has met international standards in this regard. The Guangzhou fair is a grand occasion for international trade, and China needs to ensure better execution of laws so as to maintain the orderliness and good reputation of the fair, he said.

According to MOFTEC, the Guangzhou fair has made great efforts in raising public awareness of IPR protection and setting up a self-disciplinary mechanism for the traders. The fair will also take measures to punish IPR infringers.

Intellectual property protection has always been a major task of the Guangzhou fair, which takes place twice each year. The fair appointed dedicated personnel for trademark management in the early 1980s. In 1998, it set up an IPR work group for the management and protection of trademarks, patents and copyrights. Starting in 1999, a special service center was set up at the fair to hear IPR-related complaints.

(eastday.com 10/24/2000)