The 20th Shanghai International Intellectual Property Forum kicked off on December 10 in Shanghai, with the theme of "Strengthening Legal Protection for Intellectual Property, Fueling Innovation-Driven Development of Digital Economy". Chen Jining, Party Secretary of Shanghai, attended and addressed the forum. Shen Changyu, Commissioner of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech respectively.

Chen said that Shanghai will speed up its efforts to build a forefront of IP protection and an international IP center city. Shanghai will take advantage of its signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance exchange and cooperation with the WIPO, promote IP international cooperation with a more open attitude and support the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service in the expansion of operations.

Shen noted that the CNIPA has been earnestly implementing the important instructions of President Xi Jinping and relevant deployments of the state, accelerating the establishment of an IP protection system for data, inspiring technological innovation in the digital sector, actively participating in the international IP norm-setting activities for data and advancing the development of the digital economy. Also, the CNIPA has been working with the Shanghai Municipal People's Government to further build the city into a high-level IP powerhouse, deepen the pilot work of data IP and speed up the creation of an international digital capital with global influence.

Tang said that the current year marked the 50th anniversary of cooperation between the WIPO and China and China has risen to be one of the most formidable IP engines in the world. Shanghai has played a significant role in backing the growth of China's IP ecosystem. The long-standing friendly cooperation with the WIPO had yielded a number of positive outcomes. The new cooperation MoU inked by the two sides would help further deepen close collaboration, unleash the potential of innovation and creation through IP and build a better world.

A report unlocking IP-backed financing series from country perspectives, jointly compiled by the CNIPA and the WIPO, was unveiled at the forum.

Shanghai leaders Li Zheng, Xie Dong, CNIPA Deputy Commissioner Lu Pengqi and WIPO Deputy Director General Wang Binying also attended the opening ceremony.

The forum was jointly hosted by the CNIPA, WIPO and Shanghai Municipal People's Government. At the three-day forum, Chinese and foreign guests had profound discussions on issues including digital innovation and IP protection.(Translated from CNIPA Website Chinese Version)