U.S. complaints against China at the World Trade Organization over alleged "copyrights piracy" issues will not help intellectual property cooperation between the two countries, a spokesman of China's National Copyright Administration (NCA) said here Tuesday.

"I don't deny that IPR infringement and piracy occurs in the Chinese market, but that doesn't mean the United States is founded to file complaints against China in the WTO," said NCA spokesman Wang Ziqiang at a press conference.

The United States last Tuesday formally filed two WTO complaints against China over so-called copyright piracy and restrictions on the sale of U.S. books, music, videos and movies.

The two new cases were seen as the latest effort by the Bush administration to increase pressure on China in the area of trade despite China's efforts to crack down on piracy.

Wang said China has made tremendous efforts in IPR protection over the past 20 years. But "copyright infringement and piracy is a global and universal problem, which cannot be eradicated overnight," he said.

The spokesman said China and the United States have regular consultation mechanisms to address IPR issues and IPR problems could be solved effectively through communication.

"Cooperation and coordination is much more useful than mutual accusation," he said.

Wang also refuted the U.S. government's complaint that China's market access restrictions on films, books and audio-visual products had lead to rampant piracy, saying that the accusation "does not bear serious scrutiny".

China promised to import 20 foreign movies when it entered the WTO in 2001, but the real number of imported foreign movies far exceeded the figure, Wang said.

From 2000 to 2004, China imported 4,332 films through various channels, 40 to 50 percent of which were from the United States, statistics from the Ministry of Culture showed.

Yin Xintian, spokesman for the State Intellectual Property Office, said that China has made real progress in improving its IPR system and sanctions for IPR infringement in recent years.

China had launched a series of nationwide anti-piracy campaigns and millions of pirated products were confiscated and destroyed every year.

Last week, China's Supreme People's Court lowered the threshold for prosecuting manufacturers and vendors of counterfeit intellectual property products.

The new rules state that anyone who manufactures 500 or more

counterfeit copies (discs) of computer software, music, movies, TV shows and other audio-video products can be prosecuted and face a prison term of up to three years.

The new regulations replace the 2004 rules whose net only extended to those who produced 1,000 pirated discs.

"I personally believe that no other country can be compared with China in terms of the intensity of its efforts to protect intellectual property rights," Yin said.

Asked what type of assistance China expects from the United States in addressing piracy problems, Yin said China hopes to further cooperation with the international community and improve the law enforcement capacity of its administrative and judicial agencies.

Yin acknowledged that low public awareness is part of the problem China is facing in IPR protection.

He said China has improved its IPR legal framework over the past 20 years and set up law enforcement agencies.

"But it's impossible for us to improve the awareness of IPR of 1.3 billion people in such a short time," he said.

He said China hopes other countries, especially developed countries, will take account of the country's history and recognise the Chinese government's efforts to improve IPR protection.

"I think the assistance China most needs is understanding and appreciation," he said.

Source: Xinhua