Intellectual Property Conference: China pledges to continue protecting I.P. rights to boost innovation

World
Europe

Eleven years removed from China's launch of the National Intellectual Property Strategy Outline, the relationship between protecting IP rights and building an innovative economy is becoming more obvious. In the 2019 Global Innovation Index published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China ranks 14th, having jumped 3 places from the year before.

Today, as the 10th China Intellectual Property Annual Conference kicks off in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, CGTN's Xu Mengqi talked to businesses and governors for their takes on China's IP system.

Artificial intelligence is one of the hottest subjects in China. But the drive towards this technological innovation relies on a basic infrastructure: protection of intellectual property rights.

XU YIYA, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT SHANGHAI XIAOI ROBOT TECHNOLOGY CO.,LTD. "For companies like us, our only asset, apart from talent, is patents."

And patents are what China again vows to protect, at its 10th annual Intellectual Property Conference, this time held in tech giant Alibaba's hometown of Hangzhou.

SHEN CHANGYU, DIRECTOR CHINA NATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ADMINISTRATION "The progress China has made in intellectual property protection in recent years is recognized by the world. We have established a legal framework covering all types of I.P. and joined almost all I.P.-related international treaties."

XU MENGQI HANGZHOU "From merely responding to international pressure in its early days of reform and opening up to today being a national strategy, intellectual property protection has come a long way in China. And from the various exhibitors who offer all kinds of IP related services here, one can see the industrial chain is already quite developed."

The advancement of IP protection in China, experts say, is conducive to the nation's transformation from a labor-intensive economy to one driven by technological innovation.

YOSHIYUKI TAKAGI, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR GENERAL WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION "China has already topped the ranks of any patterns by origin and also in the area of artificial intelligence. We expect the Chinese companies to take a leadership role in high tech and emerging technologies."

The conference also saw China establish 10 more Technology and Innovation Support Centers in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization. XMQ, CGTN, HZ.