Business

Foreigner detained in Yiwu for faked goods

By Hao Nan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-08 07:30

Foreigners go through procedures at the Entry-Exit Administration in Yiwu, Zhejiang province. The small commodity trade center has attracted more than 200,000 businesspeople in the first half of this year, an increase of 39 percent year-on-year, setting a record high in the city's history. Zhang Jiachang / China Daily

HANGZHOU - The city's customs office recently seized more than 8,000 pieces of branded sportswear bearing the names Nike and Adidas intended for export by a foreigner in Yiwu, Zhejiang province.

The fake items were mixed with blouses, hats and shorts, all of which had been declared at customs to be clothing without brands.

Yet due to "years of experience, I felt there was something wrong", said Zheng Xianneng, the customs official who discovered the counterfeits.

A suspect has been arrested and confessed, police said, but his name or nationality was not released.

"This is the first time Chinese customs had a foreign suspect arrested for export of counterfeits, though many have escaped," said Luo Xuhong, head of the intellectual property section at Yiwu customs.

Now a world-leading center for trade in small commodities, "Yiwu has a huge daily export volume and the amount is increasing", said Zhang Jun, Yiwu customs commissioner.

"We supervised an average of 46,500 export containers a month with a range of small commodities in the first half of this year," Zhang said. "So it is a big challenge for us to check every container thoroughly."

"Fraudulent traders are taking advantage of that to export fakes," Zhang noted.

In addition, chaos in the local freight business also contributes to shipping counterfeits.

Of more than 3,000 companies and individuals involved in freight export in Yiwu, only 100 are officially registered, according to the Economic Information Daily newspaper.

Some companies agree to transport infringing goods for foreign traders to cope with the fierce competition.

Adding to the unruliness is customs brokers - the last link in export procedures before customs - that mostly examine documents rather than goods, making it easier for counterfeiters to thrive.

To improve enforcement, an international association of freight and storage companies has been established in Yiwu that aims to standardize service in the industry.

"For our common interest, joint efforts will be made to maintain the order of Yiwu's export market and clear fraudulent traders from it," said Jin Lixian, general secretary of the association.

Stricter supervision on customs brokers includes possible closure of their business if they are involved in the trade in fakes, authorities said.

China Daily