Chinese provinces to promote copyright laws

Chinese provinces to promote copyright laws    Officials in Hong Kong, Macau and coastal provinces of southern China have signed a regional agreement to promote intellectual property protection.
   Hong Kong will take a lead role bridging understanding of copyright requirements among foreign and domestic companies because of its experience with English Common law and foreign intellectual property rights protection systems, according to a statement from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office.
   The agreement covers provinces in the Pearl River Delta region, including Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan.
   The U.S. government is pressing China to combat counterfeit production that it claims is costing U.S. businesses billions of dollars each year.