Short answer: yes. Using an identical trademark on identical goods or services, or knowingly selling counterfeit branded goods, can be a crime in China — not merely a civil dispute. The core offences sit in Articles 213 to 215 of the Criminal Law, and a 2025 judicial interpretation has made the thresholds much clearer.
Which trademark offences are criminal in China?
The Criminal Law creates three main offences. Article 213 covers counterfeiting a registered trademark: using a mark identical to someone else’s registered trademark on the same goods or services without the owner’s consent, where the circumstances are serious. Article 214 covers knowingly selling goods that bear a counterfeited registered trademark. Article 215 covers making, or selling, forged or unauthorised trademark labels.
The 2025 interpretation confirms that Article 213 also reaches counterfeit service marks, not just physical goods.
What are the penalties?
Under Articles 213 and 214, as amended by Amendment XI to the Criminal Law, serious cases carry up to three years’ imprisonment, and especially serious cases three to ten years. Article 215 follows the same two-tier structure. In every tier a fine is imposed on top of any prison term.
When does it become a crime? The 2025 thresholds
The interpretation issued as Fa Shi [2025] No. 5, effective 26 April 2025, sets the figures. For goods, “serious circumstances” generally means illegal gains of at least RMB 30,000 or illegal business volume of at least RMB 50,000. Where two or more trademarks are counterfeited, the thresholds fall to RMB 20,000 in gains or RMB 30,000 in volume, and the same lower figures apply to repeat conduct within two years. For services the threshold is RMB 50,000 in illegal gains. Amounts ten times higher are treated as “especially serious”.
What this means in practice
Criminal exposure sits alongside civil liability. Paying the brand owner does not automatically make the criminal case disappear, because counterfeiting is treated as an offence against the public interest — not just a private quarrel. Brand owners, customs and the market regulator can each trigger a complaint. Keep your authorisation documents, supply-chain invoices and licence agreements, and remember that logistics, packaging and online-listing support can be treated as involvement too.
(Hypothetical.) A trading company orders unbranded accessories and prints a well-known foreign logo onto them for export. Even at modest volumes, once sales pass the RMB 50,000 business-volume line the matter can shift from a civil claim to a criminal investigation — and the company’s own export records become the prosecution’s evidence.
Bottom line: trademark counterfeiting in China is a criminal offence with clear 2025 thresholds — treat brand compliance as risk management, not paperwork.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Is selling counterfeit goods a crime in China, or just a civil matter?
A: It can be both. Knowingly selling goods with a counterfeited registered trademark falls under Article 214 of the Criminal Law once the thresholds are met.
Q: What are the 2025 thresholds for a trademark crime?
A: Under Fa Shi [2025] No. 5, “serious circumstances” for goods generally means illegal gains of RMB 30,000 or illegal business volume of RMB 50,000, with lower figures for two or more trademarks or repeat conduct.
Q: What is the maximum sentence?
A: Articles 213 and 214 provide up to three years for serious cases and three to ten years for especially serious cases, plus a fine.
Q: Does using a similar, not identical, mark count?
A: The criminal offence targets a mark identical to the registered trademark on the same goods or services. Similar marks are usually handled as civil infringement.
Q: Can I settle with the brand owner and avoid prosecution?
A: A settlement may help in mitigation, but it does not automatically stop a criminal case, because counterfeiting is treated as a public-interest offence.
Wang Guan | Co-founder, Beijing Haolue Law Firm | +86 17813108512