Dong Mingzhu, deputy to the National People’s Congress and president of Gree Electric Appliances, answers questions during an interview with China.org.cn on Mar. 4, 2016. [Photo by Guo Yiming / China.org.cn]

Dong Mingzhu, deputy to the National People’s Congress and president of Gree Electric Appliances, proposed that the government should beef up intellectual property (IP) protection during an interview with China.org.cn on Friday during the annual sessions of both China’s top legislative and political advisory body in Beijing.

The business leader noted that if the violation of intellectual property rights went unchecked, enterprises would lose initiative for further innovation, as she cited a row between Gree and another Chinese home appliances maker regarding IP theft.

“I think IP protection is essential in China’s ongoing supply-side reform,” noted the 62-year-old businesswoman while slashing patent theft and fake products that have forced disappointed consumers to purchase overseas products. “I suggest we should draw experience from the United States to launch tougher penalties for illegal market activities.”

Daily necessities and superior durable goods ranked high on the Chinese people's overseas shopping list during the country's 2016 Lunar New Year period, when Chinese people spent a record 90 billion yuan (US$13.80 billion) overseas, according to a Xinhua report.

Many attributed Chinese people’s overseas shopping frenzy to consumers’ lack of confidence in “made-in-China” products.

China has toughened its stance against IPR infringement and fake products through a variety of measures, but challenges have emerged with the rise of e-commerce. Only 58.7% of items sold online were genuine or of good quality in 2014, according to a report delivered to Chinese lawmakers last November.

“Building a pro-IP environment and culture in China is a long journey that cannot be completed overnight,” said Shen Changyu, commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), who viewed that IP protection is the “final stop” in transforming technology into productivity. “By 2020, I hope the legal environment for IP protection will be more sophisticated and will contribute to innovation and economic growth.”

According to official data from the SIPO, China handled over 1.1 million patent applications in 2015, up 18.7 percent year on year, topping patent application lists for the fifth consecutive year.