China says will strengthen punishment of intellectual property rights violations

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will strengthen punishment of intellectual property rights violations and provide equal protection to both Chinese and foreign companies, the head of the intellectual property rights office said on Tuesday. Shen Changyu, commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, told reporters on the sidelines of China's annual meeting of parliament the regulator will also provide equal protection to big companies as well as small-and-medium businesses. China is the potential target of far more wide-ranging U.S. action over what Washington says is theft of intellectual property and coercion of U.S. firms to share commercial secrets. (Reporting by Muyu Xu, Shu Zhang and Se Young Lee; Editing by Kim Coghill)