Chinese regulators announced a
year-long campaign to crack down on counterfeit Walt Disney merchandise on Thursday, a year
before the US media group opens its first theme park in mainland China.
The State Administration for Industry
and Commerce SAIC, which regulates the consumer goods trade, said “The special
operation will promote the development of a fair and competitive market, and
protect China’s international image for safeguarding intellectual property
rights.”
The crackdown will last until
October 2016.
SAIC will create “emergency teams”
to help protect Disney trademarks, and actively monitor online sellers for
fakes.
Disney could not be reached for
comment.
China’s fake goods problem has
received much official attention.
In January, SAIC strongly criticized
Alibaba, the ecommerce group, for not doing more to fight fake goods. More than
40 per cent of goods sold online in the country last year were either
counterfeit or poor quality. Customer complaints about online orders hit 77,800
last year, a jump of 357 per cent against 2013.
Disney is developing the $5.5bn
theme park in Shanghai with China’s state-owned Shanghai Shendi Group. It
opened its largest store in the city in May, as it looks to tap into China’s
fast-growing film market.
