Guangzhou | Chinese customs seize fake Intel chips

Customs authorities in south China said it has seized a batch of chips, watches and women’s bags that infringed upon intellectual property rights (IPR).

The Huangpu Customs made the seizure when they were inspecting a batch of parcels to be shipped across the border.

“When we used an X-ray to check the parcels, we discovered that the X-ray images were not consistent with what was on the paper,” said Huang Hongjie, an e-commerce inspector of the customs at the Dongguan post office.

The boxes are printed with logos of Intel Core i7 CPU but the products inside had gathered rust, and did not look like authentic Intel CPUs, he said. The 836 CPUs were found to be refurbished ones, and therefore infringed upon Intel’s IPR, he said.

Inspectors also found 25 watches and 31 women’s bags which were knockoffs of Gucci and Cartier brands.

Huang said the fake goods fit a pattern in which domestic sellers mail used or knock-off products overseas to personal shoppers, who sell them back to Chinese buyers.

“IPR protection has become one of the important functions of customs. We continue to fight the entry and exit of commodities that infringe upon IPRs through more strict inspections and targeted crackdowns,” Huang said.

Huangpu Customs oversees an important maritime foreign trade corridor in south China. In 2018, the total value of imports and exports under its jurisdiction was 1.53 trillion yuan (USD228 billion).

Since 2018, the Huangpu Customs seized 6 million yuan worth of goods that were suspected to have violated IPR.

Bao Liming, deputy director of the customs, promised strict IPR protection to protect scientific innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. Xinhua