China are presumably hoping to combat pressure from the US and elsewhere over its terrible record in copyright piracy through the establishment of a court to specifically deal with piracy crimes. Officials in Beijing last week announced the launch of the Judicial Court Of Intellectual Property, which will operate under the country's Supreme Court and will hear complaints from both local and foreign companies regarding alleged IP theft.
Officials say the new court will aim to reform the judicial process in this area, and to train more local judges on the issues surrounding piracy. Supreme Court judge Jiang Zhipei told reporters that through the new court he hoped "that foreign companies and personnel can send IPR violators to the courts in good time."
China committed to reducing its high piracy levels when it joined the World Trade Organisation in December 2001. Despite an increase of piracy cases going through the Chinese courts in the last two years, and other measures introduced by the country's government to combat both physical and online piracy, copyright theft remains prevalent in China and so the authorities there continue to face international pressure to put things in order.
In related news, rumours that the Recording Industry Association Of America are planning on opening a P2P function at Camp X-Ray where American teenagers are ruthlessly tortured until they agree to smash up their iPods are almost definitely made up. Though not entirely unfeasible.