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

Shen Changyu, Commissioner of China National Intellectual Property Administration

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 Vice Chairs, and express our gratitude to Francis Gurry, WIPO Director General, and the Secretariat for the thoughtful arrangements made for the Assembly.

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to intellectual property protection as one of the four major measures to open wider to the outside world, and will further improve relevant laws and regulations and strengthen the protection of intellectual property. The Chinese Government will give equal treatment and equal protection to the intellectual property of domestic and foreign enterprises, and strive to create an environment favorable to business and innovation. At the beginning of this year, the Chinese Government restructured China National Intellectual Property Administration, which centralized the management of intellectual property such as patents, trademarks, designs, geographical indications and layout-designs of integrated circuits, and further optimized the management of copyright. This action greatly has improved the management efficiency of intellectual property. In accordance with the department functions after the reconstitution, its English abbreviation has changed from "SIPO"to "CNIPA", short for China National Intellectual Property Administration. 

Over the past year, the development of China's intellectual property has maintained a good momentum. In the first half of this year, a total of 751,000 applications for invention patent and 3.586 million applications for trademark registration were filed, and more than 23,000 PCT international patent applications were received, witnessing a year-on-year increase of 6.3%. Last year, the number of copyright registration exceeded 2.73 million.
 
Mr. Chairman, we have appreciated the achievements of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over the past year under the leadership of Francis Gurry, WIPO Director General. The cooperation between the Chinese Government and the WIPO has also been deepened. In August this year, the two parties co-hosted the 2018 High-Level Conference on Intellectual Property for Countries along the "Belt and Road", and in June, the two sides jointly held the High-Level forum on the Cultural and Economic Importance of Film and the Role of Copyright. The two parties also carried out pragmatic cooperation in the fields of intellectual property and sustainable development, and the construction of Technology and Innovation Support Centers. Moreover, we have vigorously promoted the development of the PCT, Madrid and Hague systems in China and supported the efficient operation of WIPO Office in China. 

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

First, China unswervingly supports multilateralism and firmly upholds the role of WIPO as a main platform in formulating international intellectual property rules. We look forward to seeing substantial progress in the rulemaking of the Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC). Besides, we are expecting the WIPO to formulate protection rules in the field of emerging technologies, and 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. In addition, it is hoped that remarkable achievements of the application of artificial intelligence in patent and trademark review can be made, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can be actively implemented. 

Second, we call on all parties to further strengthen cooperation, jointly promote the development of the global intellectual property system, build an open, inclusive, balanced and effective international order of intellectual property, and oppose trade protection in the name of intellectual property protectipn. 

Third, we should continue to improve the WIPO international intellectual property service system and support the expansion of the working language of the service system in order to better serve the innovation and development of all the countries. 

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 CNIPA Website Chinese Version)