Stronger legislation combined with tough response to breaches offers assurance to overseas businesses
China has been fostering strict protection of intellectual property by law, leading to a growing number of foreign patent applications, said an official from the National Intellectual Property Administration.
From January to July, foreign applicants filed 92,000 invention patent applications in China, a year-on-year growth of 8.3 percent. Also, 149,000 trademark registration applications were filed, up 13.1 percent compared with the same period last year, said Gan Shaoning, deputy head of NIPA.
In conversing with a group of foreign journalists, Gan attributed the rises to the application of measures designed to strengthen IP protection in the country. These measures included amending laws and regulations, accelerating the construction of a national IP credit system and carrying out joint punishment on dishonest behaviors.
Last week, the foreign journalists visited NIPA's Patent Examination Cooperation (Beijing)Center. After a tour of exhibitions, they learned about the history and development of China's modern patent system. They also watched a demo on the process of a patent application of a robotic arm for surgery.
The event was organized by the Information Office of the State Council to show the country's business-and innovation-friendly climate to foreign journalists.
"China attaches great importance to IP protection, not only for creating a friendly environment for opening-up, but more importantly, for its own development," said Gan in response to a question by a Russian journalist.
"The Chinese government has put forward the idea of innovation-driven development," he said."Without strict IP protection, there will be no innovation and no economic and social development."
China's advances in IP protection have been widely recognized. The country's global ranking of the business environment rose to 46th place in 2018 from 78th in 2017, according to the Doing Business 2019 report released by the World Bank.
The 2019 Member Survey by the US-China Business Council shows that 58 percent of US enterprises share the view that China has enhanced its IP protection in 2018. This marks a record high since the survey started in 2011.
Data from the Ministry of Commerce show that more than 20,130 new foreign-funded companies were registered in China in the first half of this year. They collectively involved 478.33 billion yuan ($67.49 billion) in combined paidin foreign capital.
Of the amount, which increased by 7.2 percent year-on-year, 28.8 percent went to the high-tech industry.
Pilot free trade zones and regions in western China have become popular investment destinations. Foreign capital flowing into the zones and western regions jumped 20.1 and 21.2 percent year-on-year during the six-month period, respectively.
Source: Xinhua - China Daily
