Piracy Problems in China

The Chinese government has recognized the importance for its long-term growth of protecting foreign investments in intellectual property and has developed copyright laws modelled on international standards as a first step towards effective protection of IPR. On Chinese government's face, China's laws meet or exceed the standards of the principal international treaties. However, in eyes of some foreign countries, the implementation of these laws may have proven lacking, probably due to ambiguities in the law and difficulties in enforcement. In China, the situation is a complex.

Historical and Cultural Factors
The widespread disregard of IPR can be partly attributed to historical and cultural characteristics. Chinese culture has long emphasized learning by copying in all aspects of life; the emulation of works of almost any kind has for centuries been regarded as honourable and necessary. Under the traditional Chinese education system, attainment of the highest academic qualifications was demonstrated by faultless reproduction of the classical works of the past. These principles strongly influence contemporary education in China. In the environment where children are taught "right" and "wrong" answers as opposed to creative problem solving, it often follows that originality is not prized and "copying" is widespread (Spierer, 2001).

Social Factors
Compared with the historical and cultural factors mentioned above, perhaps more relevant to the situation in China today is the fact that sharing has been mandate for over forty years in this Communist state. Much of the period since the formation of the People's Republic of China, wealth and property, whether private or industrial, were belonged to the state. The mass public has barely any idea of intellectual property, as a result low public awareness has become a major obstacle to IP protection in general (Ho, 1995).

Economic Factors
In order to open itself to the outside world and to integrate into the global economy, China adopted domestic economic reforms. The biggest problem encountered at that time was the absence of a compatible legal system with the outside world. An effective set of laws was crucial for reforming the economic system and attracting foreign advanced technology and capital. Nevertheless, to draft such kinds of law immediately were impossible taking into account the ideological and technical considerations. The result was to draft more brief laws and skeleton provisions to meet the changing needs. As such, these laws were difficult to implement without the help of the detailed rules and regulations of the administrative organs (Ho, 1995).

After China joins the WTO, its laws and legal system must be substantially revised. The WTO agreements are not only concerned with transnational trade in goods but also concerned with a wide range of issues such as trade in services, IP, trade related investment measures, dispute resolution and the like. It is not exaggerating to say that the WTO regulates almost every aspect of the world economy. Under the Chinese law, international treaty provisions prevail in case of conflict with domestic laws and administrative regulations. As a result, the Chinese government has acceded to several international treaties concerning IP in order to show the world that China is a safe marketplace.