BRIEFING: Apparel counterfeiting in China

As China readies itself for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, its government has been cracking down on local vices to project the best image of China to the world’s TV crews who will be wandering Beijing’s streets in August. Those caught up in the clean-up include the hawkers who have been used to haranguing tourists with carry bags of counterfeit t-shirts, CDs and watches. But while this obvious example of clothing counterfeiting is now hard to spot, the business of faking clothing brands in China is alive and well, albeit currently indoors, in well-run and air-conditioned properties within Beijing’s most respectable business districts. just-style here investigates the continuing problem of China’s vast clothing counterfeiting networks. And we ask whether China’s development of its own brands will eventually create enough political and economic pressure on the counterfeiters to force them out of business.