A husband and wife team, on the northern outskirts of the Chinese capital, set up an operation in January involving “hundreds” of workers repackaging second-hand smartphone parts as new iPhones for export. They produced counterfeit phones worth 120m yuan ($19m), according to Beijing authorities.
The factory was discovered on 14 May, but Beijing’s public security bureau announced it on Sunday, according to reports. The Beijing authorities were alerted to the existence of the factory by US authorities when some of the fake phones were seized.
China had officially initiated a crackdown on counterfeit goods and regulated firms to register the trademark of their goods.
China has also agreed to work with the US authorities to stop the large quantities of fake goods making their way to US markets and vice versa. In Kunming city, China several fake Apple stores sprouted four years ago. Even the staff themselves believed that they were working for US electronics firm. The fakes were so convincing says the blogger BirdAbroad, who discovered the fakeness.
Chinese authorities arrested nine persons from the factory which had made up to 41,000 fake Apple iPhones.
