U.S. businesses have long complained about rampant piracy and intellectual-property theft arising out of China.

The trend hurts not only sales of U.S. goods abroad but sales of U.S. goods in the U.S. itself — a quick stroll down any of several Manhattan streets will confirm that.

But is China starting to crack down on piracy? Well, the country says it is. China says its campaign to tackle fakes and copyright theft is gaining ground, with courts accepting 40 percent more intellectual property cases last year. (Though mere acceptance of cases, as any lawyer knows, doesn’t necessarily mean courts will agree with them.)

Read more