China’s strengthened IP protection system supports sustainable innovation

A senior official of the World Intellectual Property Organization said on Monday that China's efforts to build a stronger intellectual property protection system will provide solid support for sustainable innovation, especially in key technologies, as the country vows to further improve its IP protection ecosystem.

Wang Binying, deputy director general of WIPO, made the remarks at the main event of China's National IP Publicity Week in Beijing. The event focused on strengthening IP protection in emerging sectors and accelerating the growth of new, high-quality productive forces. The annual National Intellectual Property Publicity Week runs from Monday to Sunday.

In her speech, Wang highlighted that a range of frontier technologies, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, are becoming core drivers of global innovation growth. She noted that China remains a key force in this technological transformation, with the global innovation landscape continuing to shift toward the Asia-Pacific region and China.

"China's strengths in systematic innovation across multiple key technologies, especially its active efforts to build an IP ecosystem, are becoming a key engine driving the country's high-quality development and fostering new quality productive forces," Wang said.

According to Wang, China now has 5.32 million valid domestic invention patents, making it the first country in the world to exceed 5 million in that category. She added that China accounts for more than 60 percent of the world's AI patents, while patents related to robotics make up about two-thirds of the global total.

The senior international official also emphasized that China has shown constructive engagement in promoting multilateralism and global IP governance, injecting stability and momentum into the multilateral system.

Shen Changyu, head of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, stated in his speech that emerging sectors represented by AI, big data, quantum technology, and biomedicine have become the front line of global competition.

"We must actively adapt to the needs of emerging sectors and improve the IP protection system in a timely and responsive way, so as to create a better environment for innovation," he said.

The senior official noted that one of the major tasks for China's top IP regulator this year is to quickly formulate a work plan for improving IP protection rules in emerging sectors. Additionally, he mentioned that the authority will expedite revisions to regulations on the protection of integrated circuit layout designs to meet the needs of ultra-large-scale integrated circuit development and support the growth of China's chip industry. (source: China daily)