Zhongshan, Dec. 20 - Ben Su is a sales manager of a lighting enterprise that has thrived in the controversy surrounding China's intellectual property right(IPR) protection efforts six years after its entry to the World Trade Organization(WTO).

The Baodisi Lighting Group that Su works for invested nearly eight million yuan in the late 1990's in IPR protection but has since stopped because the money was simply not turning out significant rewards.

Su, who has worked in the industry for ten years, blamed deficiencies in China's legal system for their failed IPR protection attempts.

"We did spend up to eight million yuan from 1997 to 1998 on IPR protection, and the rewards were simply not worth it," Su told Chinadaily.com.cn.

"Under Chinese law, a single minor change to a prototype of lamp would constitute a new model. It's not like in the European Union. We just couldn't prevent copying."

There may be 100,000 more enterprises in similar situations in Guzhen Town of South China's Zhongshan city, named after the late Chinese revolutionary pioneer Sun Yat-Sen who drove off China's last dynasty and set up its first republic.

The town, dubbed China's capital of lighting, hand-made 60 percent of the country's private lighting needs last year. Many of their products are based on similar ones found in European and Hong Kong markets.

Guzhen government officials denied there were any IPR pirating cases in the past.

"So far, I've never heard of anything that has provoked IPR troubles," a senior town government official said on Thursday. Su also said they've met no problems in this field. "The foreigners know there's nothing they can do here," Su said, meaning that in order for foreigners to operate in China, they must adhere to Chinese law. Vice town governor Yang Rongjian, nevertheless, doesn't believe copying is a bad thing for his town.

"The lighting industry we are currently working in is a labor-centered trade, and we have to utilize price advantages to grab more of the international market," Yang said. "What we sell for RMB100 yuan may cost US$100 dollar in America, but the two are roughly the same thing."

And Su knows how get his products through the EU's thorough IPR check.

"I bought this from Spain recently for 12,000 yuan and now sell revamped models priced at 20 per cent of the original cost," Su said, pointing to a Baroque style lamp. "Foreign buyers sign checks here, ship the products back to Europe. I don't have anything to do with how they get them through customs."

As China is under constant pressure from the EU and the US to strengthen its IPR protection efforts, Premier Wen Jiabao has said this year that China would fulfill all its WTO commitments.

"Actually we think a tougher IPR protection system a good thing," Su said when asked whether Wen's words meant a threat to his business.

"We have talked about this topic a lot and have begun preparing to change. All in all, a good system would prompt us to achieve better results," he said.

With no big issues concerning IPR protection in the lighting industry to come up in China, Guzhen Town government officials also said they are planning to spend more in establishing design centers in the future .

With a registered population of 68,000 and a total of 150,000 migrant workers, Guzhen Town officials estimate its lighting industry production reached RMB40 billion yuan last year.