Cooperation Key to Economic Development

B&R countries work together on IP to promote industrial upgrades.

Enhancing cooperation on intellectual property among countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative will promote industrial upgrading and economic development for each participant, a senior official said.

"Promoting economic development is a rigid demand for many countries. IP has become a necessary tool in global trading. Related multinational companies can help build an ideal business environment and innovative atmosphere worldwide," said Shen Changyu, commissioner of the National Intellectual Property Administration of China, during his keynote speech at a recent high-level conference held on Tuesday.

Abdulaziz Alswailem (left), chief executive officer of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property in Saudi Arabia, shares his view on the protection of intellectual property in the digital era during the 2018 High-Level Conference on Intellectual Property for Countries Along the Belt and Road kicked off in Beijing on Tuesday. Jiang Wenjie / For China Daily

During the two-day event, the 2018 High-Level Conference on Intellectual Property for Countries Along the Belt and Road held in Beijing, more than 300 attendees from some 60 countries, foreign embassies as well as international and regional organizations, shared their insights on hot topics in IP, including IP protection in the digital era, the commercialization of intangible assets and the improvement of the related legal system.

Shen suggested B&R countries should reach consensus in laws and policies to the largest degree based on a principle featuring mutual benefits, equality and openness. Communications between human resources, IP professionals, law enforcement experiences and other fields should be enhanced to promote innovation and improve awareness of IP among the public, he added.

Since the Belt and Road Initiative came into place in 2013, many fruitful achievements have been made.

The total value of imports and exports between China and B&R countries has reached more than 30 trillion yuan ($4.41 trillion). China has invested over $70 billion in the countries involved, creating some 200,000 jobs, according to a recent Xinhua report.

"With a booming global trade, exchanges of assets and technologies have become more frequent," said Li Chenggang, assistant minister of the Ministry of Commerce at the conference. "Big companies pour much investment into the research and development of IP, while often taking a long time to solve disputes. Small and medium-sized enterprises face challenges in developing IP and protecting their self-owned IP."

To improve the current situation, work needs to focus on negotiation on IP-related commercial issues, providing services for SMEs going global, simplifying cross-border patent granting and application processes, as well as giving solutions to new problems in IP protection brought by new technologies such as big data and cloud computing, he added.

Cham Prasidh, minister of Industry and Handicraft of Cambodia, said local IP authorities have signed agreements with Singapore, China and the European Patent Office so that patent granted by these areas can be protected in Cambodia as well.

"Many Chinese investors have come to Cambodia. Their common concern is that whether their IP, industrial designs and patent can be protected in our country," he said, adding that the application of IP in Cambodia still has a long way to go due to a lack of human resources, funding and experience.

Such cooperation aims to eliminate the worries of investors and encourage them to make further investment, the method of which could be expanded to other countries too, he added.

"Back in the 1980s, 80 percent of the assets of companies were tangible assets, but now 80 percent are intangible assets, to which IP contributes a lot," Prasidh said.

"IP plays an important role in industrial development and technology transfer. It has become a business strategy for companies to promote innovation and improve competitiveness."

Saule Tlevlessova, president of the Eurasian Patent Office, said it has established good cooperation with China in recent years including patent and information exchanges.

"This is the golden era for IP. We want to learn from China and also give help to China," she said, adding that the conference is a starting point to further promote IP cooperation.