Tianjin authorities are seeking to boost economic development through a comprehensive trademark strategy, said a senior city official.

"Trademark, as a major part of intellectual property, has close ties with the market," said Wang Haifu, director general of the Tianjin Administration for Industry and Commerce.

"It is an important element for companies to strengthen their core competitiveness and enlarge the market share of their products," Wang added.

"Also, its development can reflect to some extent the scale and level of a region's economy."

Authorities hope Tianjin will rank among the nation's most advanced provinces and cities by the end of 2012.

They aim to develop the coastal metropolis into a model city with a group of well-known trademarks by 2020.

To achieve these goals, the authorities have implemented a series of policies and mapped out a three-year plan for promoting trademark development.

The move is in accordance with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce's call to thoroughly implement the national intellectual property strategy, said Wang.

Currently, Tianjin hosts several trademark conferences and exhibitions, including a gathering sponsored by the China Trademark Association.

Trademark agencies with good reputations are permitted offices in government administrative departments, facilitating registration services.

Authorities hope the arrangement will increase the amount of registered trademarks.

Six municipal brand cultivation bases and 10 brand-building industrial zones are now in the works.

Authorities are offering trademark policy consultancy services to local companies, especially those with established brands. They are also focusing on enhanced trademark protection and reducing counterfeiting.

More than 300 trademark infringement cases were handled from January to August this year.

"We will combine the trademark strategy with the city's industrial structure adjustment plan to accelerate the construction of urban, modern industrial, agricultural and service mechanisms," Wang noted.

(China Daily 10/27/2010 page15)