Implications and Conclusions

Abstract

This closing chapter first summarises the contents of the preceding chapters before discussing the dynamic process of increasing compliance which emerges from this study. The dynamic process of change in compliance over time relates to the dual aspects of intention to comply and capacity to comply. A dynamic model of compliance is developed which contains five factors affecting China’s intention to comply and three factors which affect China’s capacity to comply. Taken together these key influences are crucial to the improvements witnessed in the intellectual property (IP) system since China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001. I then consider the wider implications of the study—for theories of compliance; for the WTO; for China’s trading partners; for the Chinese government; and for rights-holders seeking to protect their IP in China. Finally, I offer some concluding thoughts on the significance of this study and the possible future for the Chinese intellectual property system.