CNR:
The U.S. has accused Chinese companies of obtaining valuable technologies and intellectual property from America through various ways, and believed that the Chinese government has directed companies to invest in American companies to acquire these cutting-edge technologies and intellectual property. What is your response?
Wang Shouwen:
Thank you for your question. China has done a lot of work in intellectual property rights protection and has increasingly become an important nation that leads on intellectual property. Last year, for example, China filed more than 1.5 million utility patent applications, ranking first in the world for eight consecutive years. Of course, while China is inventing and creating, it also trades intellectual property with other countries. We buy intellectual property rights from other countries and also export them to other countries. In terms of purchases, China paid $1.9 billion in intellectual property royalties in 2001, but paid $35.6 billion last year, that's a nearly 19-fold increase. Of that amount, we paid $8.64 billion to the United States, nearly a quarter of our total intellectual property purchases.
Therefore, this shows that China attaches great importance to the protection of intellectual property, so that more and more inventions of its own can be made and companies from other countries will be willing to sell their intellectual property to China. China has done a lot of work in intellectual property legislation, justice, and law enforcement, so that is a welcome development. The Chinese government is not involved in the acts of Chinese companies buying or exporting intellectual property abroad. What the Chinese government does is to create an environment that respects and protects intellectual property rights. This will promote the creation of intellectual property and better protect it. It's also good for the development of an innovative economy.
You mentioned earlier that some people said that "the Chinese government directs Chinese companies to invest in American companies to acquire advanced technologies." I don't think this is true. When Chinese companies invest abroad, what projects to invest in and what to buy or not to buy are entirely their own decisions, they are responsible for their own profits and losses, and make independent decisions at their own risk. The Chinese government is not involved in the specific commercial activities of companies. It does not direct or require companies to invest in any projects or buy any technologies. Thank you.
