China Announces New Punishments for Intellectual Property Theft

(Bloomberg) -- Intellectual property theft is one of the main points of contention in China’s dispute with Washington, and just days after President Xi Jinping promised to resolve the U.S.’s “reasonable concerns,” China has announced an array of punishments for IP theft.

The government set out a total of 38 different punishments to be applied to IP violations, starting this month. The document was released by the National Development and Reform Commission and signed by various government bodies, including the central bank and supreme court.

Late last month, Beijing batted down a U.S. accusation that China is continuing a state-backed campaign of intellectual property and technology theft, saying it was based on hearsay and ignores reality.

Key Punishments

Violators would be:

• Banned from issuing bonds or other financing tools, and participating in government procurement
• Restricted from accessing government financial support, foreign trade, registering companies, auctioning land or trading properties
• In addition, violators will be recorded on a list, and financial financial institutions will refer to that when lending or granting access to foreign exchange
• Violators’ names will be posted on a government website

Key Insights

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