HC Deb 10 November 1999 vol 337 cc625-6W
Mr. Peter Ainsworth

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what agreement he has reached with the Chinese authorities regarding the trade in illegal copies of compact discs and videos. [97987]

Mr. Chris Smith

[holding answer 9 November 1999]: During my visit to China and Hong Kong earlier this year, I raised with the appropriate authorities both in Beijing and Hong Kong the issue of trade in illegal copying of CDs and videos. We agreed that such trade is not beneficial to the development of a healthy domestic or international market and that it infringed intellectual property rights, and I encouraged them to maintain and intensify their efforts to enforce their domestic legislation in this area.