Intellectual property theft is one of the accusations levied by the Trump Administration in its trade spat with China. Recently, China has issued a white paper on China-US trade frictions, in which China pledged to continue its efforts on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection. Dr. Sun Yang, associate professor from the China University of Political Science and Law, shared his view on IPR protection. 

China has made efforts in improving IPR protection with progress in legislation, such as modifying patent law and establishing IP courts in major cities, he said. 

Sun also suggested that US IPR holders should create a more flexible and user-friendly licensing model for overseas users. 

As for forced technology transfers, he believes the US unjustly labelled voluntary bilateral transactions as forced technology transfers.

The motivation underlying this move is that US enterprises are exploring the Chinese market and maximize the value of their IP, he said, noting data has showed that US enterprises establish cooperation through technology transfers and gain substantial benefits by doing so.