Business Prof Navarro: "China's Advantage Comes From 5 Mercantilist Trade Practices"

Business Professor Peter Navarro of the University of California-Irvine, lashed out in 2008 at China Inside Out (ABC), a documentary by Bob Woodruff about China's influence in Angola, Brazil, Cambodia and the US, because it allegedly paints a too nice picture of China. In his critique Professor Navarro wanted to debunk 'cheap labour' as the only explanation for China's economic success. He came up with five unfair mercantilist trade practices that would give China its advantage:

1. complex web of illegal export subsidies;

2. blatant currency manipulation;

3. counterfeiting and piracy;

4. lax environmental standards;

5. lax health and safety standards.

Professor Navarro wrote that in 2008, read here. Do you agree with him or not? And did things improve or deteriorate?

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Counterfeiters Prevent Other Counterfeiters From Copying Them

Melinda Liu of Newsweek went to Yaxiu shopping mall in Beijing to get a first hand experience of the IPR infringement problem the new "strategic economic dialogue” between China and the United States, among other things such as the US trade surplus, should help solve. The U.S. delegation, headed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, includes no fewer than six cabinet secretaries.

Liu wrote:

"The IPR headache is intertwined with the problems of market access—another big item on Paulson’s agenda. The piracy of foreign films, which is exacerbated by restricted access to the film market, is a case in point."

Liu noticed that of the DVD counterfeiters:
"[s]ome of them ironically put special “trademarks” on their own bootleg products to prevent other counterfeiters from copying their copies."

Read Liu's article here.

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Counterfeit Goods and Piracy Segment 2005 in Numbers: The Overview

Douglas (aka Dog McFly) sent me an email pointing out the site of Havoscope. This site shows China's share in market value of counterfeit and piracy goods, here, based on the numbers of the Quality Brands Protection Committee and the China Publication Science Institute. Plus it gives many online sources to show China's internet piracy.

Great overview, thanks Douglas.

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