China US Photo:Global Times

We urge the US to stop politicizing economic and trade issues, and evaluate Chinese companies' efforts and achievements in intellectual property rights (IPR) in a comprehensive, objective and fair manner, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, a response after the US added sites operated by Alibaba and Tencent to its "Notorious Markets List." 

China has always attached great importance to the protection of IPR, and the achievements made in recent years are obvious to all, FM spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a Friday routine media conference. 

In 2021, foreign applicants were granted 110,000 invention patents in China, a year-on-year increase of 23 percent, and 194,000 trademark registrations, with a year-on-year increase of 5.2 percent, of which the US invention patent authorization and trademark registration in China increased by 32.1 percent and 17.3 percent year-on-year respectively. 

The number of foreign intellectual property rights in China has maintained rapid growth, showing that foreign companies maintain confidence in China's intellectual property protection and business environment, Wang said. 

China has always supported Chinese companies to carry out business abroad in accordance with market principles and on the basis of abiding by local laws and regulations. We urge the US side to stop politicizing economic and trade issues, and fairly evaluate the efforts and achievements of Chinese companies in IPR, so as to promote cooperation between China and the US, he added. 

The US has added sites operated by Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Tencent to its "Notorious Markets List" of businesses it believes are involved in the trading of counterfeit goods, according to bbc.com

The office of the US Trade Representative said its list had for the first time included AliExpress and WeChat e-commerce sites. AliExpress is owned by Alibaba and WeChat is operated by Tencent. China-based online markets Baidu Wangpan, DHGate, Pinduoduo and Taobao also appear on the list.

Global Times