Nation has 'made great progress' against fakes

BRUSSELS: The anti-counterfeit cooperation between the European Union (EU) and China is making progress, European Commission (EC) President Jose Manuel Barroso has said.

Speaking at the opening of the Global Anti-Counterfeit Summit on Monday, Barroso stressed the importance of cooperating with China in anti-counterfeit and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection operations. "Unless we successfully engage China, everything else we do would be a mere side-show. Here too, progress is being made."

The EC recently agreed to develop a joint action plan with China's Customs, and appointed an IPR expert at the EU mission in Beijing, he said.