The US-China Business Council recently released its annual China Business Environment Survey Report (http://uschina.org/reports/uscbc-2014-china-business-environment-survey-results). Intellectual property enforcement climbed the ranks to number 2, just after concerns over competition with Chinese companies in China. Companies positively noted certain IP developments, including more administrative actions, greater attention to the IP legislative framework and China’s incipient efforts at developing specialized IP courts.

Forty-nine percent of the respondents indicated that criminal enforcement was not a viable option, and only eight percent of the respondents indicated that criminal enforcement was a successful channel – the lowest of any enforcement channel.

There were other top 10 concerns that related to IP, including concerns over uneven enforcement of the laws and AML enforcement, transparency and national treatment.

Other concerns related to IP include technology transfer (ranked 11th), antitrust enforcement(ranked 22nd), and innovation policies (ranked 24th). Sixty-two percent of companies report that they are concerned about transferring their technology to China, particularly as it relates to the protection of intellectual property rights and proprietary information and the enforcement of technology licensing agreements. Forty-eight percent of the companies also surveyed said that they limited R&D activities in China due to China’s IP environment.

Clearly, IP and licensing concerns are impacting China’s ability to attract cutting-edge technology from foreign companies.