Chinese Vice Premier: IPR system should consider interests of developing nations

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan addresses the opening ceremony of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Inter-Regional High-Level Forum on Intellectual Property held in Beijing, capital of China, on March 30, 2009.

A balanced and effective intellectual property rights (IPR) system must take account of the interests of developing countries, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said here Monday.

Wang said this at the opening ceremony of a high-level inter-regional intellectual property forum of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

He said strengthening IPR innovation, usage, protection and management, as well as promoting a balanced and effective IPR system has become a major topic of international concern.

"To achieve this goal, we should deepen our understanding of the IPR system, set innovation encouragement and promoting development as the goal of the system, respect uniqueness of each country and comprehensively consider the interests of each nation, especially developing nations," Wang said.

"We should enhance dialogue, cooperation and consensus on the basis of equality of mutual benefits so as to jointly create a favorable environment for innovation, technological collaboration and trade."

China has made significant achievements in the field of intellectual property its reform and opening policy was adopted in 1978. To achieve the goal of creating an innovative nation, the government would continue to implement the IPR strategy and strengthen enforcement of laws and regulations on IPR, he said.

"The Chinese government's position on protecting IPR is consistent," Wang said. "It is not only our promise to the international community, but also our own need to develop innovation and change development structure."

WIPO director-general Francis Gurry, who also attended the forum, urged advanced countries to provide developing nations with more assistance on innovative technology transfer.

Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), addresses the opening ceremony of the WIPO Inter-Regional High-Level Forum on Intellectual Property held in Beijing, capital of China, on March 30, 2009.

"Generally speaking, in technology transfer, the less developed countries are, the more assistance in technology deployment they need," Gurry told reporters during the forum.

He urged developed nations to "create technologies, make them available, also provide assistance in the deployment (of technology) in developing countries."

"It is important to achieve a balance between technology innovation and diffusion," Gurry said. Ensuring the society benefited as a whole from the new technology was as important as innovative technology itself.

Gurry is visiting China for the first time since he took office in October 2008. Praising the achievement and resolution of the Chinese government in IPR protection, he said the WIPO wanted to enhance collaboration with China.

"The Chinese people have demonstrated their innovative prowess throughout history, offering the world technologies from acupuncture, compass, gunpowder to paper making, printing and ink, which helped the renaissance of Europe even the world," Gurry said.

He said patent filings in Northeast Asia had boomed over the past 20 years, most notably in China and the Republic of Korea, which had emerged as major industrial economies.

China has intensified IPR protection, with nationwide campaigns launched every year since 2004. Last year, the government unveiled an Outline of National Intellectual Property Rights Strategy, aimed at promoting innovation and the use of new technologies by China's industries.

"These measures fully depict the firm determination of the government to increase its capacity of technology innovation," Gurry said.

Facing global challenges such as the financial crisis and climate change, all countries should work together to find solutions, and China played an impressive role in this process, Gurry said.

The opening ceremony of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Inter-Regional High-Level Forum on Intellectual Property is held in Beijing, capital of China, on March 30, 2009.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (R) talks to Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), during the opening ceremony of the WIPO Inter-Regional High-Level Forum on Intellectual Property held in Beijing, capital of China, on March 30, 2009.