WTO begins China piracy investigation

The World Trade Organization launched a formal investigation Tuesday into allegations made by the US that China is providing a haven for product piracy and counterfeiting, reported the Wall Street Journal. The complaint is the most far-reaching of the four current trade disputes between Washington and Beijing, trade officials said. The US complaint over China's enforcement of intellectual property rights follows years of agitation in America and elsewhere over one of the world's largest sources of illegally copied goods such as DVDs, CDs, designer clothes, sporting goods and medicine. Diplomats leaving a meeting of the WTO's dispute settlement body said an investigative panel was set up. China blocked the panel's creation last month, but was prevented under WTO rules from delaying the investigation a second time.