CCTV:

During the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, President Xi Jinping said more efforts will be made to promote international cooperation on intellectual property protection. My question is for Mr. Shen. What is the current status of the cooperation on intellectual property protection under the Belt and Road Initiative? What will be done to improve the cooperation in the future? Thank you.

Shen Changyu:

Thank you for your question. As you said just now, during the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, General Secretary Xi Jinping expounded on China's major principles and policies regarding intellectual property protection, and pledged to strictly protect intellectual property under the law, which has won international praise. The National Intellectual Property Administration is now working hard to study related issues and develop feasible and tailored measures to ensure an effective implementation of these policies.

Regarding cooperation in this field under the Belt and Road Initiative, we have cooperated with other departments and held the High-level Conference on Intellectual Property for Countries along the Belt and Road in 2016 and 2018 respectively. General Secretary Xi wrote congratulation letters for both meetings. So far, a regular mechanism for cooperation has been established to promote intellectual property protection under the BRI. Practical cooperation projects in eight fields, including communication on macro policies, intellectual property examination, development of fundamental capabilities, and exchange of information and data, have been carried out.

So far, steady progress has been made in every project, many of which have achieved significant results as a result of cooperation. For instance, the applications of patents and trademarks of China and countries along the route of the BRI are rapidly and continuously increasing. In addition, as I've mentioned, the validation of the patents authorized by China in Cambodia, and Laos' recognition of the results of the examination of Chinese patents, have greatly enhanced bilateral economic and trade cooperation, as well as technological and cultural exchanges. China has established a postgraduate program - a masters in intellectual property for students from countries along the route of the BRI, and students in the first class under this program have graduated. In addition, we have launched the portal for the cooperation of intellectual property under the BRI, which has access to our Patentcloud examination system. We agree to strengthen and build closer communication on global intellectual property issues in order to promote the development of open, inclusive, balanced and effective international rules of intellectual property, as well as to further support the joint construction of the BRI.

Next, we will put into practice the principles outlined in General Secretary Xi Jinping's keynote speech, and deliver more substantial and concrete outcomes of intellectual property cooperation under the BRI. The third High-Level Conference on Intellectual Property for Countries Along the Belt and Road will be held next year. And we will take the principles outlined in General Secretary Xi Jinping's keynote speech as our guide to review the progress of intellectual property cooperation projects in eight aspects in the past two years. On this basis, we will draw up a blueprint of the relevant projects and issues relating to intellectual property cooperation under the BRI in the upcoming conference. This will allow us to provide a better ecosystem of innovation to support technological exchanges and cooperation on a national-level in accordance with market principles and laws. Thank you.