China's Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom), represented by a spokesman Shen Danyang at a regular press release conference on January 18, expressed great concern and serious discontent to Taobao's being listed once again in the "notorious market" by the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Shen pointed out, the wording adopted by the U.S., such as "allegedly" or "industry indicates", in the "notorious market" report when referring to Chinese enterprises, is ambiguous and indefinite, as there is no valid evidence or detailed analysis and is therefore lacking responsibility and objectivity. China suggests that the U.S. should reflect the efforts of the Chinese government and Chinese enterprises in IPR protection in a comprehensive and objective approach and make its judgment in a fair way to avoid causing any unnecessary negative effect to Chinese companies.

Although the U.S. also said in the report that the list of "notorious market" does not represent any illegal fact and it is not an overall analysis of the IPR protection status and enforcement environment in those countries, such statement still cannot help the U.S. to weasel out its responsibility. China urges the U.S. to make a more comprehensive, objective and fair assessment to China's efforts in IPR protection and to create a good environment for the two countries' future cooperation in the sector. [Chinese version is available on caijing.com.cn]

(Source: IPR in China)