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Authorities will carry out a year-long campaign to crack down
on Disney counterfeits, the State Administration for Industry
and Commerce (SAIC) said, underlining wider concerns that fake
products are damaging the country's reputation.
"(This) will promote the development of a fair and competitive
market, and protect China's international image for safeguarding
intellectual property rights," the statement said, adding the
"special operation" would run until October 2016.
China has struggled to shake off a reputation for fakes, from
replica handbags to knock-off cars, which cause headaches for
global brands such as iPhone maker Apple Inc and luxury retailer
LVMH.
The SAIC statement added it would create "emergency teams" to
help protect Disney trademarks, increase training for forces to
spot illegal behavior and boost monitoring of Disney
counterfeits online.
More than 40 percent of goods sold online in China last year
were either counterfeits or of bad quality, the official Xinhua
news agency said this week.
Disney, which is developing the $5.5 billion theme park with
China's state-owned Shanghai Shendi Group, will be hoping it can
tap into growth in the world's second-largest economy despite
the country's recent slowdown.
Disney opened its largest store to date in Shanghai in May, and
is tapping China's fast-growing film market. The latest film in
its "Avengers" series took the number-two spot in the country's
20.4 billion yuan (£2.1 billion) box office for the first half
of the year.
Disney earlier this year delayed the opening of the Shanghai
Disneyland resort until the first half of 2016 from a previously
scheduled start at the end of 2015.
(Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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