TIAN Lipu, Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) met with Pascal Lamy, the visiting Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and his delegation on the morning of June 19, 2007. SUN Zhenyu, Chinese Ambassador to the WTO also attended the meeting. The two sides exchanged opinions on issues of mutual concern in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere.

 

At the meeting, Mr. Lamy said frankly that he would want to have a better understanding of China's efforts in intellectual property from this visit as WTO's Doha Round Talks was to resume.

 

Mr. Tian noted that although IP is not a big topic in WTO negotiations, its importance is obvious. Since China's access to the WTO, the Chinese government has made great efforts in IP protection. China first established its IP system 20 years ago, but it has made fair progress, and especially in the last five years after access to the WTO, China has achieved remarkable results. However, some countries are blind to China's efforts and achievements, while simply exaggerating the problems, which is too subjective. The Chinese government has always attached great importance to IP protection and hopes that IP disputes may be settled through dialogue and cooperation.

 

Mr. Lamy said that China has already been aware that strengthening IP protection is in its own interests instead of under pressure by other countries, which is very important for improving its IP system. But because of its vast territory, China's IP law enforcement has various difficulties, which is determined by its national condition and shall have the understanding of developed countries.

 

Mr. Tian showed great appreciation to Mr. Lamy for his understanding of China in the IP field, and pointed out that China has included IP as part of its national strategy to ensure its strict implementation in line with the needs of its own development. It is his hope that developed countries could have a fair judgment on China's IP protection issue and help developing countries enhance their overall IP construction in terms of IP creation, application, management, protection, etc.

 

In addition, both sides also exchanged views on such issues as public health and intellectual property, and developing countries' IP capacity building.

 

In closing, Mr. Tian expressed his sincere wish that Mr. Lamy could visit China's SIPO sometime in the future.

2007-06-25

2007-06-25