American-based software companies are pleased with the successes made by American and Chinese negotiators at the meeting of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) meeting which concluded in Beijing yesterday.

The JCCT agenda covered a range of economic issues that recently have affected bilateral relations, including the issues of keeping China's government software market open to U.S. companies and copyright protections.

The U.S. Delegation was lead by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman. They met with Senior Chinese officials including Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Wu Yi.

"I wish to commend the U.S. and Chinese negotiators on achieving a very successful interim result on the government software procurement issue in the spirit of the WTO," said Sybase Chairman, President and CEO John S. Chen. "Secretary Gutierrez, Ambassador Portman and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Wu Yi, and their negotiating teams have shown that the cooperation is mutually beneficial for both sides."

At the meetings, China agreed to a number of measures designed to step up enforcement of intellectual property rights, including increased criminal prosecutions and the criminalization of exporting counterfeit goods.

China also agreed to accede to the World Intellectual Property Organization Internet treaties by June 2006 and combat Internet piracy.

During last year's JCCT meeting, Chinese authorities pledged to ensure government agencies used legal versions of software. At this year's meeting the Chinese side extended this plan to include private enterprises.