Nike compensated over China fakes

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Two Chinese shoemakers and a French supermarket group have been ordered to pay Nike compensation over fake shoes, China's state media agency has said.

Jinjiang Longzhibu Shoes, Jinjiang Kangwei Shoes and France's Auchan, must pay a total of 350,000 yuan ($46,100; £23,300) to Nike, China's Xinhua said.

The fake Nike trainers were found on sale in Auchan's Shanghai store.

Despite Beijing's pledges to clamp down on counterfeiting, fake goods are still widely produced and sold in China.

This has led to repeated complaints from Western governments, most recently by the US, which last week formally requested that the World Trade Organization crack down on Chinese piracy and counterfeiting.

Safety fears

Nike itself is one firm that has repeatedly seen its footwear and other sporting goods copied in China.

Last year US authorities seized more than 135,000 fake Nike trainers that had been imported from China.

In the latest court case in Shanghai, Jinjiang Longzhibu Shoes was ordered to pay Nike 100,000 yuan, with Jinjiang Kangwei Shoes and Auchan being ordered to pay 90,000 yuan and 160,000 yuan respectively.

Nike was not immediately available for comment.

China's official production work for Western firms has also come in for criticism in recent weeks, with a number of health scares and recalls surrounding Chinese-made children's toys.

In the most recent development, the New Zealand government has said it will investigate whether imported Chinese-made children's clothes have dangerously high levels of the chemical formaldehyde.