Silk street wages war against fake goods
By Liu Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-31 06:40

Traders on Beijing's Silk Street market received a sharp reminder not to sell fake goods earlier this week, when municipal inspectors seized more than 300 items which breached trademark regulations.

A total of 80 handbags and 220 garments bearing Boss, Gucci and Chanel logos were seized by officers from the Chaoyang District Branch of the Beijing Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce.

The traders involved were placed on file for investigation and possible further punishment.

Before moving in to seize goods, the bureau dispatched plainclothes inspectors to the market.

The inspectors disguised themselves as consumers interested in buying designer branded items.

When traders brought fake products to their stalls, uniformed Chaoyang District Branch staff together with representatives from the Jianwai Industry and Commerce Office moved in to seize the illegal products.

Li Li, a spokesman for the Chaoyang Branch, said that to avoid detection some traders are not openly displaying fake brands on their stalls but keep them hidden until they believe it is safe to show them.

Earlier this month (March 19) the Silk Street market moved from its previous site on Jianguomen Wai Street to an adjacent purpose built five-floor mall.

The new venue houses 1,500 units selling clothes, shoes, bags and other goods.

As the name suggests, the market was initially famous for selling silk clothes and other traditional products.

Later the street gained infamy as an easy place to pick up fake designer brands.

The industry and commerce authority has urged market management staff to step up efforts to push out those who sell fake brands.

Wu Weishuang, marketing manager of the Beijing Xiushui Haosen Dress Company, responsible for operating the market, said: "Those sellers caught selling fake products for the first time will receive warnings. If they are caught a second time their goods will be seized. If they are caught a third time, they will be ordered to stop trading at the Silk Street market."

He vowed that the Silk Street would no longer be an easy home for bogus goods and insisted progress had already been made.

"Fake products seized this time make up only 0.3 per cent of the market's total stock," he said.

"There are a lot of fake brands in the previous Silk Street market, but the situation is rather different now."

Problem still exists

While stressing that great strides have been made in combating products that violate the trademarks of well-known brands, Wu admitted that there were still fake products on sale at the market.

"Fake big brand products attract large numbers of consumers, both here and overseas," he said.

"Some Americans and Europeans come to the market especially to buy fake brands."

Wu's views were echoed by Li.

"We have not received any complaints from consumers buying fake products at the Silk Street, which shows that customers clearly knew what they were buying," he said.

However, most consumers expressed their wishes to remove fake products from the shelves.

"The Silk Market is very convenient for me," Indian visitor Nadhu Babu said yesterday.

"But I came here for genuine local products, not fake ones carrying foreign brands," he said.

Chinese consumer Su said that she wanted to buy cheap and fashionable clothes and other products with their own genuine brand names.

"Trademark violation should be fought against severely," she said.

Earlier this month, the Beijing Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce issued a second list of well-known brands whose products cannot be sold without official authorization.

The brands included Cartier, OMEGA, the North Face, Gucci and Hermes.

"In fact all of the brands were already protected in Beijing. We issued the list to enhance the efficiency of dealing with trademark infringement cases," industry and commerce official Li explained.

(China Daily 03/31/2005 page3)

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