By Christine Liu McLaughlin and Margaret Kurlinski

When entering the China market, many multinational companies assume that a country with a population as large as China’s would not have a labor shortage. However, the fact is that qualified labor is at a premium in China. Under the booming economy, the rising demand for Chinese labor has exceeded its supply. Hiring talented employees—young, upwardly mobile Chinese professionals with advanced skills and an understanding of international business—is even more difficult. Because of the limited availability of such employees, the competition for this talent is intense.

With tough competition comes a high turnover rate. According to a report by Hewitt and Associates, China has one of the highest (if not the highest) employee turnover rates in Asia, around 14% in 2006. It is no wonder that a recent poll by the American Chamber of Commerce-Shanghai revealed that Read the rest of “Attraction and Retention of Chinese Employees: A Legal Perspective” or post a comment

China’s growing population of over 1.3 billion potential consumers, coupled with their rapidly growing disposable income, is becoming a huge marketplace for products protected by intellectual property laws (IP). The disposable income of Beijing urban residents reached 17,653 yuan per capita (over $2,200 USD) in 2005. China has also become one of the world’s main manufacturing bases for products protected by IP laws. Further, China’s GDP reached over $8 trillion (USD) in 2005, based on…

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By Aaron Wininger and Peiyu Sun

China’s growing population of over 1.3 billion potential consumers, coupled with their rapidly growing disposable income, is becoming a huge marketplace for products protected by intellectual property laws (IP). The disposable income of Beijing urban residents reached 17,653 yuan per capita (over $2,200 USD) in 2005. China has also become one of the world’s main manufacturing bases for products protected by IP laws. Further, China’s GDP reached over $8 trillion (USD) in 2005, based on purchasing power parity. As such, based on these numbers alone, the opportunity, occurrences, and profitability of IP infringement in China is steadily on the rise.

According to recent postings by the United States Embassy in Beijing, China is the number one source of counterfeit goods seized by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. However, targets of IP piracy and infringement are not just U.S. or foreign companies, but also Chinese companies. For example, on a recent visit to street corner in Shanghai, DVDs of movies currently playing in theaters worldwide were available for 4 yuan (about 53 cents, U.S.). With some haggling, volume purchase discounts appeared possible. Bootleg DVDs included recently released American films such as “Transformers” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” as well as many popular, recent Hong Kong movies. Since the main market for Read the rest of “Recent Developments and Routes for Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in China” or post a comment