On Sunday 3 June, China expressed its regret at the complaint lodged by the European Union at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regarding the forced transfer of technology to China. The complaint criticises the damage done by the Chinese legislation to the intellectual property of European businesses (see EUROPE 12032).
"China regrets (this) complaint and will deal with this issue in line with the dispute settlement procedures of the WTO", the Chinese ministry of trade stated. "China has always attached great importance to the defence of intellectual property rights and has already adopted many effective measures to protect the legitimate interests and rights of those who hold (them)", it said, underlining the "evident and visible" progress in the country, and giving assurances that a Chinese-European work group had been set up to deal with this issue.
In many sectors of the Chinese economy, foreign companies wanting access to the Chinese market are forced to form a joint venture with local companies and to share part of their technological know-how.
Targeting the arrangements of Chinese regulations on the import and export of technology, and Chinese-foreign joint ventures, the EU deems that these practices run counter to the rights that companies should enjoy under WTO rules, particularly as part of the Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
The USA lodged a similar complaint against China at the WTO on 23 March (DS542). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)