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EU, Japan IPR efforts welcome
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-10-19 21:32
A Chinese official Tuesday reiterated that protection of intellectual
property rights (IPR) is a priority in addressing the challenges brought by
China's economic growth, saying that European Union (EU) and Japanese efforts to
strengthen IPR protection in China are welcome.
At a seminar on industrial design protection jointly conducted by China, the
EU and Japan in Beijing Tuesday, Li Ling, director-general of Treaty and Law
Department of Ministry of Commerce, said intellectual property rights protection
is a right of all companies in China, including domestic business people and
foreign investors.
China has made continual progress in its IPR administrative capacity and
enforcement systems, thanks to a past decade of legislative efforts.
The challenges brought by increasing economic growth have posed a higher
demand on the Chinese government, said Li.
"We welcome the efforts of the EU and Japan to strengthen co-operation
and partnership in all fields of IPR protection,'' Li said.
The seminar was held to bring together the governments from the three nations
to discuss the issue of protecting industrial designs in China in line with
World Trade Organization (WTO) and other international standards.
European officials encouraged China to stay on course with initiatives to
further strengthen IPR protections.
Globalization and trade liberalization are bringing WTO members and
multinational companies closer together. Nowhere is this more apparent than in
China - the world's largest recipient of foreign direct investment, said Paul
Vandoren, director of trade at the European Commission.
While China has made progress in international trade co-operation, without
effective nationwide anti-counterfeiting measures, it will be difficult to
maintain the attractiveness of the Chinese market for foreign and domestic
investors or encourage innovation and protect consumers from safety hazards.
"We welcome the opportunity to establish public and private
partnerships involving European and Chinese governments and their industrial
circles in order to beat the counterfeiters,'' he said.
Japanese officials stressed the need to strengthen dialogue and technical
co-operation with China particularly in IPR field, in order to further
strengthen relationships.
"We see trade co-operation between Japan and China as a long-term
strategic partnership.
Trade has been supported by technical exchanges, training, and dialogue in
the area of IPR protection.
The Japanese Government welcomes the initiative to work with our European
counterparts and the Chinese Government to make efforts in improving the
standard of IPR protection,'' said Makita Shimokawa, director of Economic
Integration Division from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the seminar, specialists said that as foreign investment continues to flow
into the Chinese market, industrial designs, which create the unique "look" of a
product and allow a brand to be easily recognized by consumers, must be better
protected.
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