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World Intellectual Property Organization Director Francis Gurry and State Intellectual Property Office Commissioner Tian Lipu at the forum. Yang Shen / China Daily
Officials brief peers as China-ASEAN Free Trade Area gets down to business
Strengthened cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on intellectual property is crucial to an investment-friendly environment, a senior governmental official told a meeting of high-ranking representatives from across the region.
Tian Lipu, commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), made the comments at a China-ASEAN intellectual property conference in Beijing last Tuesday.
The conference discussed ways to implement a 2009 agreement and "provides a platform to increase communication in intellectual property systems in participating countries", according to Tian.
More than 40 officials from 10 ASEAN member nations briefed the forum on intellectual property developments in their nations and exchanged insights on regional cooperation.
"With their close proximity and cultural ties, China and ASEAN share broad common interests," Tian said.
"Increased exchanges and understanding not only helps improve intellectual property systems in various nations, sharpen their edge in innovation, but also to realize mutually beneficial development and promote regional peace and prosperity."
Since official dialog began in 1991, bilateral cooperation has become robust, he noted, especially with the advance of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area that took effect Jan 1.
Now China and ASEAN are now each other's fourth-largest trade partner.
"ASEAN is likely to become a more important trade partner to China in the next 10 years," Tian predicted.
"SIPO has long valued cooperative relations with our peers in ASEAN," the commissioner said, adding that intellectual property seminars SIPO hosted in 2005 and 2008 were widely appreciated.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of China's admission to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the 30th anniversary of its membership in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Patents filed in China rose 17.9 percent last year to nearly 980,000 applications.
The marked growth has been aided by close collaboration with international organizations and other nations, including ASEAN member states, Tian noted.
In just 25 years, China's achievements in intellectual property are remarkable as its number of international patent applications has risen to fifth globally, said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.
China's experience provides a reference for development of intellectual property in other nations, Gurry said.
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