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.

Last year, the EC launched a new program to ensure IPR enforcement and provide help to Chinese legislative, judicial, administrative and enforcement agencies and institutions, Barroso said.

"I am optimistic about our chances of success. There appears to be a sea change in Chinese attitudes on IPR, and not just because of our work together."

In recent years, China's IPR office has risen to become the world's third largest recipient of patent applications. Between 1995 and 2005, patent applications by Chinese residents looking to protect their innovations rose by 800 percent, he said.

Barroso called for more consumer education. "The role of consumer education is paramount. From early years and throughout their adulthood, consumers should become aware that the choices they make every day shape the world, for better or for worse."

About 2.5 million diaries were distributed among schoolchildren across the EU last year with information about brands and the dangers of fake goods.

Barroso said counterfeiting and IPR theft can do "enormous damage to an economy like the EU's, the sort of economy that relies on quality and innovation".

(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2008)