Wall Street Journal:

China and the U.S. will hold trade talks next week. What kinds of progress in IPR protection will promote the bilateral talk? Is there any progress made that is targeted to the U.S. concerns? Are there any enforcement measures in place to guarantee more progress in IPR protection? Is it possible to say that China's potential progress in IPR protection will prompt the U.S. side to cancel its tariff toward China?

Shen Changyu:

Thank you for your question. The China-U.S. high-level trade talks are of concern in both countries, as well as in the international community. Not long ago, the two sides made new progress in the ninth round of negotiations, as they implemented the important consensus made by the two heads of state during their meeting in Argentina and held talks on the text of the agreement. IPR protection is an important part of that text, according to releases by related departments. I think their releases also cover the answers to your questions.

Since the country's reform and opening up, and especially after the 18th CPC National Congress, China has strengthened IPR protection and achieved recognizable achievements as it committed to provide equal treatment to domestic and foreign companies. It is fair to say that IPR protection is not only a focus of the China-U.S. trade talks and an issue of international concern, but also a necessity for China's wider opening up and its next step for innovation-driven development. This year, we will take further steps to comprehensively strengthen IPR protection, which may contain answers to your questions.

First, to improve related laws and regulations. We will promote amendments to the patent law and improve the punitive compensation system to significantly raise the cost to offenders. We will impose a fine of up to five times for serious IPR infringements, a high penalty compared to the international standard. The amendments to the Trademark Law that we just completed have increased the punitive compensation for serious trademark infringements.

Second, to strengthen the source protection system. We will improve the quality and efficiency of IPR inspections, cut the process for trademark and patent inspections, and provide timely authorization and sturdy rights. Stricter enforcement measures will also be taken to fight against abnormal patent applications, as well as unethical trademark applications and trademark hoarding. Mr. Zhao Gang already answered questions related to that topic.

Third, to improve law enforcement measures. We will strengthen our market supervision and law enforcement team, improve the judgement criteria for trademarks and patents infringements, and increase effectiveness of law enforcement.

Fourth, to improve the co-governance system. We will take joint punitive actions against serious violators. "Once discredited, violators will face restrictions everywhere." Like I just said, this is among the strictest punitive measures in IPR history.

Fifth, to improve the coordination mechanism to ensure quick authorization, confirmation, and rights protection. We will provide more efficient, easier and less costly channels to safeguard the rights of market entities. 

These works are essential to IPR protection and major concerns of the China-U.S. trade talks, and we are going to promote them throughout the year. Therefore, a large part of the trade talks coincides with what we are doing and will continue to do in the future. And we will strive to advance those related works. Thank you.

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