On April 26, the Symposium of IP and the 30th Anniversary of China’s Reform and Opening up is jointly held by SIPO, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Lu Yongxiang, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress attends the symposium and delivers a speech.

In his speech, Mr. Lu points out that on the day of the eighth World Intellectual Day in the year of the 30th anniversary of China’s adoption of reform and opening up policy, it is of great significance for SIPO, SAIC and NCAC to jointly hold the symposium to review the great achievements made in China’s IP development, further understand the important roles of IP system to China’s economic and social progress, and mobilize the whole society to implement the IP strategy. He says with the continuous deepening of the implementation of the policy of reform and opening up in the past 30 years, China’s IP cause maintains rapid development, making outstanding achievements. China has formulated comparatively perfect and systematic IP laws and regulations and will soon promulgate and implement the National IP Strategy. The number of China’s IPRs maintains continuous and rapid growth; the IP law-enforcement level keeps rising; the construction of IP working structure progresses greatly; IP management and competitiveness of enterprises are intensified constantly; and the whole society’s IP consciousness goes up gradually. The establishment and implementation of IP system play active and notable roles in standardizing China’s market-oriented economic order, encouraging invention and scientific and literary creations, boosting opening up to the outside world and introduction of intellectual resources, stimulating scientific management innovation, sharing the civilization achievements of all human race and promoting China’s economic and social development and cultural prosperity.

From the angle of an innovative country, market economy and legal society construction, Mr. Lu illustrates the great significance of implementing the National IP Strategy. He notes that it is the urgent demand of constructing an innovative country to implement the IP strategy. Currently, China’s economic development shows a series of new and periodical characteristics, mainly, the economic strength goes up remarkably, but the overall productivity level is not high, and the long-term structural contradictions and extensive growth mode have not changed fundamentally. China’s comparative advantages and international competitiveness rely on its low costs of labor and resources and high cost of environmental pollution to certain content. The fact of China’s lack of core technologies, core competitiveness and internationally renowned brands can be actually defined as the lack of independent IPRs for key technologies. To resolve these problems, we must depend on scientific and technological progress and innovation. Under the circumstance, the Central Government proposes to make the promotion of independent innovation the core link of changing China’s economic development mode and place the improvement of independent innovation capacity and construction of an innovative country at the core positions of the national development strategy. The key to improve the independent innovation capacity and construct an innovative country is to create sound system and market environments for innovation, improve and well utilize IP system and promoting emergence and extensive utilization of creation achievements and IPRs. We should fully intensify IP system construction and make efforts to create sound IP-related legal environment, market environment and culture environment through implementing IP strategy, providing solid systematic guarantee for changing economic growth mode and constructing an innovative country.

He points out that implementing IP strategy is the basic content of deepening the socialism market-oriented economic system reform. Optimizing IP system is extremely important in implementing IP strategy. An important organic part of market economic system, IP system is the important foundation stone of maintaining market-oriented economic order. Currently, IP system has become the basic legal system ensuring the orderly operation of market-oriented economy, fair competition, legitimate operation and harmonious cooperation, and the common rules for international trade. We should, by implementing IP strategy, put IP system construction in the important position during the process of perfecting socialism market-oriented economic system and optimize intellectual resources by fully utilizing market mechanisms.

He stresses that implementing IP strategy is the necessary requirement of ruling by law. The concept of ruling by law is China’s basic policy. In China, the history of IP cause is not long. Owing to the lack of environment of fostering IP culture, we need to standardize IP work by legislation, and guide the public to improve their IP awareness and respect and protect IPR consciously. On the one hand, we need to give full consideration to China’s national situation, set up a reasonable level for IPR protection, establish and improve related laws and regulations, balance rights and interests among various parties and maximize the overall social benefits and long-term interests. On the other hand, we must persistently implement the strategy to the letter according to law. Through carrying out IP strategy, we should improve the system of IP-related laws and regulations with Chinese characteristics, and enforce the laws and regulations strictly and fairly, so as to root the IP-related laws and regulations deep into people’s heart and integrate them into the construction of the concept of ruling by law of the whole society.

He stresses that implementing IP strategy is a milestone in the history of China’s IP development, indicating the country’s IP work has entered a new developing phase. China will arrange its overall IP work from the strategic height of reform and opening up, scientific development and independent innovation, which will surely promote the development of IP cause to a new height. He hopes the vast IP staff can fully implement the spirit of the 17th National CPC Congress, deepen the implementation of the outlook on scientific development and make efforts to carry out IP strategy, making greater contribution to constructing an innovative country and building a well-off society in all-round way.

SIPO Commissioner Tian Lipu, SAIC Vice Director Fu Shuangjian and NCAC Deputy Director Yan Xiaohong participate in the symposium and deliver speeches. Wang Jingchuan, former SIPO Commissioner, Shen Rengan, former NCAC Deputy Director, Wu Handong, President of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Li Shunde, Deputy Director of Intellectual Property Center of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Guo Shoukang, Professor of Renmin University of China, Guo Qingcun, Vice President of Hisense Group, and Matthieu Van Kaam, High-Level Vice President of Intellectual Property and Standard Department of Philips speak at the symposium. Meanwhile, representatives from the Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture, General Administration of Customs, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and State Forestry Administration, as well as former leaders in China’s IP circle, experts and scholars, representatives from domestic and foreign renowned enterprises and demotic IP agencies attend the symposium.