Intellectual property (IP) protection in China is continuing to develop, said said Gan Shaoning, deputy director of China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).

Gan Shaoning, said that China has been committed to building a good environment for strictly protecting intellectual property rights in accordance with the law. Its efforts have been recognized by both domestic and foreign applicants. 

"From 2013 to 2018, foreign applicants applied for about 80,000 patents, with an average annual increase of nearly four percent. The total number of trademarks have reached nearly two million, representing an average annual increase of over 10 percent," said Gan Shaoning.

Recently, China has continued to enhance the quality and efficiency of IP examination, and has put in place a punitive compensation system to raise the cost for offenders. Gan said that the current patent law stipulates that patentees can receive one-to-five times the amount of their losses in compensation for intentional, serious infringements. 

So far, 44 IP protection centers and fast-track rights protection centers have been established. Gan said that China aims to fulfill an IP protection system offering strict, fast and equal protection to all.

"Equal protection means China will treat everyone equally, no matter where you come from, big or small companies, legal person as an enterprise or individual," said Gan.

Meanwhile, China now has a national center to help the nation's companies navigate unfamiliar, foreign ground pertaining to different IP protection requirements. It will help China's "going-out" companies better understand and observe IP protection laws and rules when they operate overseas. 

Zhang Zhicheng,  director general of IP Protection Department of CNIPA, said that to strengthen information-sharing, the overseas IP information platform will also be improved. 

"In 2015, we established an overseas intellectual property information platform. We have provided enterprises with information on over 1,000 IP laws and regulations of over 140 countries and regions, information on foreign-related IP service organizations, and a list of experts available to provide information support for overseas enterprises," said Zhang Zhicheng.