Chen Deming, China’s commerce minister, has invited senior foreign executives to meetings about intellectual property rights, in an attempt to address an issue that has become a big liability in Beijing’s economic relations with the west.
The invitations directly from the minister to attend the Mofcom IPR Forum on Friday come amid a six-month government crackdown on copyright and trademark infringers, which is due to run to March. Executives from Microsoft, Motorola and Nokia are among those attending.
Problems with intellectual property rights have been a frequent topic in foreign companies’ exchanges with officials as the business community has lobbied the government to improve protection.