In a statement on Thursday, the Workplace of the US Business Consultant (USTR) stated that it had designated for the primary time AliExpress, a web-based market run through Alibaba, and WeChat, Tencent’s ubiquitous cell app, as “markets that reportedly facilitate considerable trademark counterfeiting.”
The yearly listing contains 77 entities which might be purported to be engaged in “counterfeiting or copyright piracy,” spanning over a dozen nations.
The security of highbrow belongings “is central to our trade,” the corporate persevered, including that it takes measures to clamp down on violations throughout its platforms “together with training, enforcement and shut collaboration with rights holders, govt companies and legislation enforcement.”
Alibaba and Baidu didn’t straight away reply to a request for remark.
In its 56-page document, the USTR claimed that “China is still the #1 supply of counterfeit merchandise on the planet.”
“Counterfeit and pirated items from China, in conjunction with [transferred] items from China to Hong Kong, accounted for 83% of the worth” of such pieces seized through US customs and border brokers in 2020, consistent with the business company.
The Chinese language Ministry of Trade didn’t straight away reply to a request for remark.
However at a press briefing on Friday, the Chinese language Overseas Ministry hit again at Washington.
“China has at all times connected nice significance to [intellectual property] coverage and its achievements in recent times are there for all to peer,” stated Wang Wenbin, a ministry spokesperson, including that the rustic were continuously expanding the choice of patents it issued to US entities.
“The speedy expansion of international patents in China displays that international enterprises have company self belief in China’s patent coverage and trade atmosphere,” he instructed journalists.
“We urge the USA aspect to prevent politicizing financial and business problems.”
“The worldwide business in counterfeit and pirated items undermines essential US innovation and creativity and harms American staff,” USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai stated in a remark on Thursday.
“This illicit business additionally will increase the vulnerability of staff concerned within the production of counterfeit items to exploitative exertions practices, and the counterfeit items can pose important dangers to the well being and protection of shoppers and staff world wide.”
— CNN’s Beijing bureau contributed to this document.
