In addition to damaging the interests of foreign consumers, copycats also hurt the image and reputation of Chinese brands in the world market, Huang added. 

Tri-Circle Lock Industry Group has benefited from stringent protection by Ningbo Customs. Since 2009, authorities have seized more than 4 million products with counterfeit Tri-Circle trademarks that were worth nearly 20 million yuan.

The company, founded in 1930 in Yantai, Shandong province, is one of China's oldest lock makers with a time-honored brand. IP protection has also been a top concern for foreign-funded companies, and China's newly adopted Foreign Investment Law highlights the significance of protecting the IP rights of foreign investors and companies.

Ningbo Customs has been committed to developing a fair environment for doing business in Zhejiang for years to serve its export-oriented economy.

In April, it seized a shipment of 129,000 pairs of fake glasses bearing trademarks of luxury brands like Dior, Giorgio Armani, Boss, Cartier, Chanel, Gucci and Ray-Ban, with a retail value of about 1.36 million yuan.

The glasses were planned to be exported to Egypt. The customs agency has also seized a large number of counterfeit sports products with labels of Nike, Adidas and Puma. 

It has cracked down on 102 cases violating Adidas trademarks since last year and seized 552,000 copied products valued at nearly 47.42 million yuan.

"Ningbo is one of our major markets to fight against infringements, and the local customs has done a lot for Adidas to safeguard its IP rights," said Kong Qin, a lawyer for the sportswear company. Products designed for children are another highlight of customs inspection in Ningbo. 

Authorities recently seized a batch of puzzles violating trademarks of British animation Peppa Pig, one of the most watched cartoons by children around the world. 

The 3,200 puzzles intended for export were found in 10 boxes, and valued about 100,000 yuan.

This was the 30th case violating the IP rights of products intended for children that Ningbo Customs cracked down on in the past two years. Since 2018, the authorities have seized 140,000 counterfeits worth 5 million yuan, including crayons, umbrellas, pillows, pencil bags, seals and stationery.

Most of the items seized were poor-quality products with many potential security problems.