General Statement Made by the Chinese Government Delegation at the Fifty-Seventh Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO

SHEN Changyu, Commissioner of State Intellectual Property Office of China

Thanks, Chair of the WIPO General Assembly

First of all, please allow me, on behalf of the Chinese Government delegation, to wish the Assembly a complete success under the chairing of you and the two Vice Chairs and express our gratitude to the Director General and the Secretariat for the thoughtful arrangements made for the Assembly. I would like to congratulate your Excellency Ambassador from Vietnam for being elected as the WIPO General Assembly Chair as well as the two newly elected Vice Chairs. I would also like to take this opportunity to brief the Assembly on the latest developments in China's intellectual property (IP) work over the past year.

At the end of last year, the Chinese government released two important documents on strengthening the top-level design of IP development. One is the National Planning on Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization During the 13th Five-year Plan Period which further clarifies the objectives, tasks and initiatives of IP development during the 13th Five-year Plan period. The other is the General Scheme on Pilot Reform of Intellectual Property Comprehensive Management which offers clear arrangement of local pilot reform of IP comprehensive management. It is required to form a chain of IP work, let IP of all types play a comprehensive effect, and provide better support for innovation-driven development. In the meantime, we have also made important progress in incorporating IP-related content into the General Principles of the Civil Law, Patent Law, Copyright Law, Regulations on Patent Commissioning among other laws and regulations.

Over the past year, the Chinese government has continuously increased efforts to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) and combat all kinds of infringement. The total number of administrative patent law enforcement cases exceeded 40,000, seeing a year-on-year increase of 36.5%; more than 28,000 cases of trademark infringement and counterfeit were filed; a special campaign titled Sword Network to crack down on infringement and piracy and a legitimate software campaign were carried out. In particular, we always adhered to the principle of equality between domestic and foreign enterprises in IPR protection and strived to create a sound environment for innovation and business. Social satisfaction about IPR protection was steadily improved.

Over the past year, China's IP creation has remained of great vitality. The number of domestic invention patent applications exceeded 1 million and that of copyright registration exceeded 2 million. From January to August this year, a total of 806,000 applications for patent for invention were filed, seeing a year-on-year increase of 5.7%; 3.36 million applications for trademark registration were accepted. In the first half of this year, 21,600 PCT international patent applications were received, witnessing a year-on-year increase of 16%.

Mr. Chairman, we have appreciated the achievements of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over the past year under the leadership of WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. The cooperation between the Chinese government and the WIPO has also been deepened. In May this year, Agreement on Strengthening “Belt and Road” Intellectual Property Cooperation was signed in Beijing. In June, the Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications was held in Yangzhou, and a copyright forum was held in Shanghai. Cooperation in various fields saw remarkable achievements. WIPO Office in China works efficiently.

Now I would like to propose some ideas about issues under the WIPO framework:

First, let the WIPO fully play its role of being a main platform in formulating international IP rules. We are pleased to see positive changes in the discussions of the Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) and the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP), and we also look forward to development of other committees. We will make efforts to promote a diplomatic conference on the Design Law Treaty to be convened as soon as possible, the WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations to be reached as early as possible, and the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances to enter into force soon.

Second, give full attention to the concerns of developing countries. We welcome the latest developments in the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) and look forward to the adoption of the new biennium authorization and work plans of the IGC at this session. We also hope that the WIPO would continue to provide adequate resource support for the mainstreaming of development work.

Third, ensure the smooth development of WIPO's work. We look forward to the successful adoption of the biennium 2018-2019 plan and budget. We would offer the WIPO support to further refine the PCT and the Madrid system.

Mr. Chairman, China will continue to uphold the concept of win-win cooperation and sharing, actively support multilateralism and work together with all parties to promote the development of the global IP system in a balanced, universal and inclusive manner.

Now I'll invite Ms. Ada KL LEUNG, Director of Intellectual Property of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for her speech.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman.

(Translated from SIPO Website Chinese Version)

2017-10-12