The IMF report has clearly indicated that there are no winners in a trade war. But, the US President insists that the trade tensions will continue till China addresses its so called concerns. One of them is intellectual property rights of companies in China. From semiconductors to software, and dumpsters to data, technologies have traveled to China. But the country is not just a receiver but also a big buyer of foreign technology. Zou Yue has the story.

Celery is known as a health food. But few understand what celery actually means for human health. Chinese farmers in the south use the plant seed to treat epilepsy. And now CSPC, a small pharma in northern China, has turned it into medicine for victims of stroke. They call it butylphthalide, or NBP.

The key is that the chemical can get through what's called the blood-brain barrier, while most molecules can't. When it gets into the brain, it strengthens blood circulation and protects mitochondria, the energy machine of our body. NBP proves to be effective in 78 percent of patients who have suffered blood blockage in brains. But not all people had faith that a Chinese pharma company could make a game-changer medicine.

LU LIJUN EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CSPC "Nobody believed we could produce new patented drugs like NBP. For 5 years, we have been losing money. That is a big challenge. But looking back, that is how we made our way here, by overcoming challenge."

Against all odds, the company trusted its researchers, and their medicine turned out to be a big market success. In 2017, the sale of NBP reached 3.5 billion yuan.

ZOU YUE "Nobody can steal their way to success. The story of CSPC is a telling chapter of how Chinese invent and use technology. In a matter of 4 decades, it has developed 200 medicines, treating diabetes, strokes, hypertension, infections, and even tumors. And their ambition is to treat more people around the world.”

Now the drug is going through the US Food & Drug Administration's approval process. If accepted, it has a good chance of treating Americans in the future. CSPC is not the only Chinese company that harbors these ambitions.

China's revenue from patent exports was 4.8 billion US dollars last year, a jump of three times that of 2016.  

But China is still a big buyer of technology: It paid 28 billion US dollars for licensed patents last year, 15 times higher than 2001 when it joined the WTO. US President Donald Trump has asked the Treasury Department to restrict Chinese technology investment. But cross-border technology transfer has always been the staple of economic integration.

So the question is how will trade stand-off between the US and China upset the flow of knowledge in the world. Zou Yue, CGTN.