At 2012 AIPPI Seoul 43rd World Intellectual Property Congress in South Korea, China's Hangzhou outvoted other five competitors to win the right to host the 2020 AIPPI international conference.

There were six countries applying to host the 2020 International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) international conference: Australia, Thailand, China, Germany, Portugal and Holland. The AIPPI China branch recommended Hangzhou, and eventually the city won the competition with 66 percent of votes.

The AIPPI, a non-profit organization headquartered in Switzerland, was established in 1897. It has set up branches in over 70 countries and regions all over the globe with more than 8,000 members. It holds international conference and executive committee every other year. The AIPPI China branch was established in 1982, and Tian Lipu, Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, currently serves as director of the branch.