China home appliance giant embraces stronger protection

GUANGZHOU - Fu Rao, a patent engineer at Chinese home appliance maker Midea Group, has no time for cooking.

But he knows everything there is to know about kitchen ventilators and microwave ovens. Standing in front of a wall of patent certificates, Fu said his job is to clear barriers from other companies to make sure Midea's kitchen products can reach the shelves of any market.

"Protection of intellectual property rights enables us to break through the patent wall built by our competitors and expand our own businesses," he said.