Watch? Bag? DVD? Not for much longer

In a crushing blow to faux fashion and a strong move to support intellectual property rights protection, the Shanghai Municipal Government has announced that Xiangyang Market will be closed by the end of 2006.

Shanghai Daily reports:

Officials with the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said the company that operates the market will still be allowed to open a new market and manage it, but it will have to work with the government to prevent it from being a copy of the current Xiangyang Road Market.

The bureau last year dealt with 1,227 cases of trademark violations and confiscated more than 1.6 million pirated goods from small commodity markets, including the Xiangyang Market.

New Shanghai International Center Development Co., the company in charge of the market's management, receives 50 to 60 million RMB per year in rent from its more than 800 vendors.

No official announcement has been made as to where the market will be relocated, if anywhere, but with revenue like that (not to mention the plethora of zealous goods-hawkers), Shanghaiist believes The Man won't keep the brilliant minds behind Xiangyang down for long.

Also on Shanghaiist:<
Ask Shanghaiist: Xiangyang Market
Xiangyang Market crack-down

Photo from flickr.com.