Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, stressed comprehensively strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on Monday.

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Innovation is the primary driving force leading development, and protecting intellectual property is protecting innovation, he said.

"We should recognize the situation and tasks of intellectual property protection in China, sum up the achievements, find out the shortcomings, and enhance the awareness of the importance of intellectual property protection," stressed Xi. 

"We should study and formulate the national intellectual property protection and application plan for the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), and define goals, tasks, measures and an implementation blueprint," he continued. 

Xi also called for more efforts to strictly protect IPR while ensure public interests and stimulate innovation, and to strengthen the creation and reserve of independent intellectual property rights in key fields. 

"We should improve the level of rule of law in intellectual property protection. While strictly enforcing the relevant provisions of the Civil Code, we should accelerate the improvement of relevant laws and regulations, and promote the revision of the Patent Law, Trademark Law, Copyright Law, Antimonopoly Law, Law of the PRC on Progress of Science and Technology, and so on, to enhance the consistency among laws," Xi said. 

He also stressed the importance of maintaining national security in the IPR field.  

"We should strengthen independent research, development and protection of key core technologies of national security, and regulate the transfer of IPR involving national security in accordance with the law," Xi stressed. 

He added that it is necessary to form an efficient early warning and emergency mechanism for international intellectual property rights risks and establish a risk prevention and control system for IPR related to foreign countries. 

On November 24, 2019, the general offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council jointly issued a directive calling for intensified IPR protection.

According to the document, by 2022, China will strive to effectively curb IPR infringement, and largely overcome challenges including high costs, low compensation and difficulties in providing evidence for safeguarding IPR. 

By 2025, social satisfaction with IPR protection in China should reach and maintain a high level, said the document.