How do Chinese software developers protect their products?

My employer, a facial recognition company, is receiving more and more interest from Chinese companies. However, discussions with engineer and media industry friends in China, Thailand, and Vietnam, they all report 100% usage of pirate software across the board. They are talking TV/Film media production, business process, accounting, software development suites, and all the related server and infrastructure software to make whatever they do operate. They report it is unheard of to actually run legitimate, licensed software unless your company/employer is a owner/investor/partner with the software vendor. As a small, but international vendor of location security software, is the only hope to partner with a Chinese company that can then hopefully be honest in policing the use of the partnerships software products? How does your organization, with an active presence in China, police the use and piracy of your products in Asia?