They introduced more and more IP laws due to requirements from the WTO[https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/acc_e/completeacc_e.htm...]. At first they didn't prosecute them, then they did but only for foreign companies, and now we're at the stage where there's essentially legal parity.

Basically they had to play along to western rules that were baked into global institutions. But now they're getting to the point that they can start to lead the conversation.

Some further reading [0] could be a book like To Steal Is An Elegant Offense from William P. Alford for a longer history of the relationship to IP within Chinese society.

0: https://www.sup.org/books/asian-studies/steal-book-elegant-o...

> At first they didn't prosecute them, then they did but only for foreign companies

Funny how that works.

> Basically they had to play along to western rules that were baked into global institutions

Like making it mandatory to have a Chinese co-owner own 50% for all businesses created in China? I don't remember seeing that in the WTO rules.

> Some further reading [0] could be a book like To Steal Is An Elegant Offense from William P. Alford for a longer history of the relationship to IP within Chinese society.

Thanks for the book recommendation!

> Like making it mandatory to have a Chinese co-owner own 50% for all businesses created in China?

I'm not sure what this hat to do with IP laws, could you explain?

> Funny how that works.

It seems to make sense to me, but what are you suggesting?