BEIJING,Jan.12 -- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans began a visit to Beijing Wednesday amid concerns by the Bush administration that China wasn't doing enough to crack down on rampant product piracy.

Evans, who will meet with Chinese leaders during his three-day trip, has said he will focus on learning what China is doing to fulfill promises to better enforce its intellectual property laws as a member of the World Trade Organization.

He said last week that the United States was concerned about the lack of significant criminal prosecutions despite China's commitment to combatting piracy. The Bush administration wants to see offenders receive tough prison sentences and other "tough criminal actions against those responsible for the thefts," he said.

Evans, who arrived Tuesday as a guest of U.S. Ambassador Clark Randt, will also attend an intellectual property rights roundtable.

U.S. officials say such piracy costs companies worldwide as much as US$50 billion (€40 billion) a year in lost sales and have threatened China with possible sanctions.

Despite recent crackdowns, knockoffs of everything from medicines to DVDs are still readily available at a fraction of the cost of the original.

The trip is Evans' fourth and final one to China as a member of U.S. President George W. Bush's Cabinet.

Carlos Gutierrez, head of cereal giant Kellogg, is the president's nominee to replace Evans. He is awaiting Senate approval to take over.