Brussels, 29/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - China, which is confronted by unbridled smuggling as it prepares to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has undertaken to gradually avail itself of a system of registered designation of origin (appellation d'origine contrôlée AOC), recognised by the European Union. "We wish to protect our products while improving product quality", Liu Zhaobing, an official of the national administration for the quality of products and quarantine, said on the fringe of a China-EU seminar on intellectual property organised in Beijing.
About ten requests, he said, have been made since 1999, the date when China adopted the geographical indication system. Three Chinese brands, including the famous rice alcohol "maotai", have so far been recognised as appellations d'origine, while foreign products must wait for Beijing's accession to the WTO to be legally protected.