- Data from China Customs shows that bilateral trade between China and the EU stood at US$221.89 billion in 2017, up 19.1% year on year, beating by a wide margin the 14.2% gain in China's foreign trade overall. An executive responsible for brand protection in China at Entertainment One UK Limited, which owns the trademarks and copyrights associated with Peppa Pig, said: "Foreign brands entering China are advised to work with the Chinese government and various sectors of society to put effective IP protection measures in place to reduce potential risks and losses." Ni Liang, executive vice chairman and head of the IP Commune rights protection center at CAASA, said: "During my ten-year tenure at Alibaba, we established a series of systems concerning IP management rules, network monitoring, infringement prevention, big data for brand protection. The IP Commune aims to upgrade China's IP protection efforts via general social governance, online data sharing, integration of criminal administration and civil litigation as well as partnerships between professionals and volunteers in tandem with various online and offline initiatives. Thanks to CAASA's support, the IP Commune has set up a comprehensive IP protection system, which is capable of tracking, monitoring and analyzing data throughout the entire process. With more than 20 million volunteers in China, it provides several services including categorization and identification of infringed rights, market analysis, online management, offline efforts to crack down on violators, civil litigation and reporting on the work in process, giving SMEs around the world access to affordable yet high-quality one-stop integrated solutions in terms of IP protection in China. The IP Commune, which helped over 100 brands avoid billions of dollars in financial losses last year, is looking forward to partnering with firms to establish a benign IP protection environment." Mr. Ni added: "China's IP protection efforts are being upgraded and we aim to give firms everywhere the tools to protect their IP rights with ease, without needing to send staff to China to do so."