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A national seminar on intellectual property protection for foreign-related entities was held in Chongqing last year. Provided to China daily
Better intellectual property protection is vital for growth
Chongqing wants to provide an innovation-friendly environment by enhancing the city's intellectual property protection.
Bo Xilai, Party chief of the Chongqing municipal committee, proposed an initiative that was adopted by city policymakers in 2008, which aims to adequately safeguard intellectual property.
It is hoped that patents will increase at a rate of 25 percent annually over the next five years.
The initiative reflects an urgent demand for opening-up in western inland regions and is also seen as an important means to boost local social and economic development, the government said. "Intellectual property protection has close ties with economic development," Vice-mayor Tong Xiaoping said.
Enhanced intellectual property protection will inject vigor into the city's development, Tong noted.
In particular, the authorities regard patents as a priority in promoting industrial restructuring.
"Patented technology is key to industrial structure optimization," Tong said.
The city intellectual property administration has been researching the situation regarding patents, such as how many are being applied for and how much innovation is occurring, in six different sectors: automobiles and motorbicycles, machine and equipment manufacturing, chemicals, material processing, electronic information, energy, and textiles.
The research findings will provide ground for formulating local industrial policies to nurture new sectors and improve traditional industries, and to increase investment and efficiency in research and development.
Based on the research results, the city government has established a special inspection unit on patents, targeted at major industries, the first of its kind in west China. The intellectual property-friendly climate has attracted many computer giants to establish their research, production and sales facilities in the city.
Among them, HP built a base early this year, which is expected to generate 30 billion yuan in annual output.
Following HP, other PC makers like Foxconn and Guangda have also come to the city.
The local intellectual property administration has cooperated with other governmental departments to establish a leadership group for coordination between various departments, to try to help reduce companies' costs and time in maintaining intellectual property rights.
Government efforts appear to be paying off: "We feel confident about our development in Chongqing and the confidence mainly comes from strong support from local government in logistics, intellectual property protection and training," said Guo Taiming, board chairman of Taiwan Honghai Group, the parent company of Foxconn.
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