The Protection and Enforcement of Intellectual Property in China since Accession to the WTO: Progress and Retreat

China is without a doubt the world’s leading infringer of intellectual property rights (IPRs). China’s factories produce counterfeit and pirated products for local and foreign consumption while China’s domestic industry infringes patent rights with relative impunity – this despite nearly 30 years of improving laws for the protection and enforcement of IPRs as well as accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. This brief article seeks to understand the reasons behind China’s apparent failure to adequately enforce its IPRs. Finding local protectionism a major impediment to enforcement efforts, the article further analyses whether the central government has the power to enforce IPRs or whether it is powerless to confront and challenge local interests.