China's counterfeit cars to disappear

China's copycat cars -- cut-price vehicles that unashamedly resemble models from Rolls-Royce, BMW and mainstream brands -- may soon be a distant memory.

The replica watches of the automobile world are disappearing from showroom floors in China as local car makers mature and develop an awareness of the laws around design patents and intellectual property.

In the lead-up to this week's Beijing motor show, Christopher Wright, deputy consul-general for the Australian Trade Commission based in Shanghai, told the Carsales Network overnight: "I think with the major players we've seen an end to [counterfeit cars] already."

Wright says there has been "distinct progress" in recent years and in the near future there will be less opportunity for Chinese car makers to be ridiculed for their copy-cat designs.

"China has come a long way in a short time," he said. "When it comes to the automotive sector, because all of the big players have extremely important marriages with major international car makers, they have become very sensitive to the needs of protecting intellectual property, anyone's intellectual property.

"They know if there is any leakage of intellectual property, out of one of their joint ventures, their business could go through the floor.

"And when you look at the big Chinese car makers, the bulk of their sales are through their joint ventures. They can't afford to lose a business like that. It's very sensitive to them."

Wright said even car makers with previous form, such as Geely with its fake Rolls-Royce, and Chery, which had a vehicle so similar to the Daewoo Matiz that the doors of the fake car reportedly fit the real one, have cleaned up their act.

"Even the new entrants, companies like Chery, a company which did have a major action settled with General Motors, are acutely aware now that they have developed their own intellectual property to protect. It has been a rapid learning phase for all concerned."

Wright said that, contrary to perception, China had very strict intellectual property laws. However, he said, the problem was that the rules were rarely enforced.

"When it comes to intellectual property, China has actually quite a strong intellectual property regime here. But what they don't have is enforcement.

"The Chinese justice system has a very poor record on enforcement in this area. Why? Because there are 140,000 trained lawyers in China, about as many as we have in Australia. Not nearly enough.

"Is it any wonder that the justice system struggles with enforcing its own laws when the bulk of the people who are employed in the justice system have no legal training?"

Wright said that Chinese car makers were now coming up with their own designs and improving the integrity of their cars faster than any other vehicle manufacturers before them.

"They will go from iteration one of their best motor vehicle to iteration four faster than anybody else has done before them. They'll deliver.

"Remember, this is a developing country. Everything is in transition. Work is being done. It's further ahead in some places than it is in others.

"But I can tell you what, it is being done faster than it has ever been done before. And on a scale greater than we've ever seen before."

When asked how long it would take Chinese car makers to take vehicle safety more seriously (seatbelts are not compulsory in China, nor are motorcycle helmets), Wright said: "I think Chinese car companies take safety seriously now. We know that some companies are absorbing as much information as they can and learning as much as they can about how to make their vehicles safer.

"If [safety] doesn't appear to be seriously dealt with now, it is because there is still work to be done. But they will get there, and quickly."

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