On June 4th, 2007, Tian Lipu, Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and Gift Higgins Sibanda, Secretary-General of the African Region Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) signed the "Cooperative Agreement on Intellectual Property between the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China and the African Region Intellectual Property Organization" in Beijing.  Prior to the signing ceremony, Tian and Sibanda held a talk on issues of common concern between China and Africa.

 

Tian expressed his welcome to Mr. Sibanda's visit to China.  He pointed out that there has been a long history of cooperation between China and the African countries and that cooperation in the field of intellectual property is constantly developing in-depth and that both sides should carry out cooperation in an attitude of mutual-benefit and win-win, so as to facilitate the development of economy and benefit the people.  Tian stressed that China is a developing country and that China harbors deep feelings for the people of all the African countries and that the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China will provide support to the ARIPO as far as possible.

 

Sibanda reviewed the history of Sino-African cooperation and also looked forward to the future development of the bilateral relations.  Sibanda said that Sino-African cooperation is very necessary and that China's experiences in many areas are worthy of learning of the Africans.  He stated that China has developed cooperation with many African countries and that the current talk is the beginning of cooperation with the ARIPO and he hoped that more deep-going interflow will be conducted by the two parties in the future.

 

At the meeting, both parties reached consensus on the establishment of a high-level mutual visit mechanism, cooperation and interflow in the traditional knowledge and the inheritance resource areas as well as the cultivation of the specialized talents and other issues.  Tian pointed out at the end that the current bilateral cooperation is cooperation among the developing countries.  This is not only an interflow between the SIPO and the ARIPO, but also an opportunity for the SIPO to learn from the member states of the ARIPO.  Along with the holding of the talks and the signing of the Agreement, there will be a good beginning for cooperation between the two parties, and also a steady development in the bilateral relations.

2007-07-06

2007-07-06