With the current lax climate and unenforced international trade laws, China has quickly become the world leader in intellectual property theft and copyright infringement . And China has become America's number one enemy because of its willingness to allow criminals to operate with impunity within its borders and its unwillingness to adhere to international laws or simply enforce its own laws. Additionally, China's widespread intellectual property theft and copyright infringement have also become two of the biggest threats facing American businesses today. This has left U.S. companies facing the current dilemma: continue doing business with China or explore other opportunities with countries that may not be suited to conducting business of a magnitude and scale that China is capable of doing it. Specifically, according to the lesson text, in the digital age, intellectual property is reduced to a stream of zeros and ones in a computer. While this is great for our access, it also makes intellectual property vulnerable to easy, unauthorized reproduction. Although the cost of doing business is low, many companies have realized that they pose high risks, which are unavoidable when doing business with China; namely the risk of loss of profits, copyright and intellectual property. It is important that we first understand what intellectual property is and how it impacts our lives. Intellectual property often refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images and designs used in commerce. It is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, ...... middle of paper ...... with high international standards. Encouraged by its reform and opening-up, China has implemented its intellectual property protection laws at a speed never before experienced. Its systems have only been in place for a short time and, as a result, awareness of intellectual property rights remains underdeveloped and often non-existent in the Chinese business environment. It can also be assumed that in many regions and within government as a whole, the importance of intellectual property protection is not sufficiently appreciated. China has an obligation to build trust among potential stakeholders through the implementation of new, broader intellectual property laws and, ultimately, their enforcement. These measures alone will mark another important step in the country's efforts to ensure the protection of intellectual property rights..