Meanwhile, China's own needs to protect its intellectual property are also on
the rise, Bo stressed. The country last year handled more than 470,000 patent
applications, published 6.4 billion books and produced 260 movies and 13,000 TV
series episodes.
High-tech products accounted for 28 percent of China's more than 760 billion
US dollars worth exports last year, and machinery and electronic products
exceeded 56 percent, much of which involved protected intellectual property.
To protect the IPR of both domestic and foreign products, the State
Administration for Industry and Commerce issued a circular in February demanding
rectification of the wholesale and retail markets in Beijing, Shanghai, and
Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces to clamp down on fake goods, Jiang said.
China is also implementing a range of IPR steps to pre-install software
programs. Statistics show that local governments and departments in 36 provinces
and municipal cities nationwide have purchased and installed legal software
programs, and 330 district and county governments are dealing with the
installation of legal software programs. In 2006, large state-run enterprises
will also begin to install legal software programs.
These actions have been taken because in recent years the Chinese government
has realized the importance of IPR protection in the process of building up a
nation of innovation, Zhao said.
China should bring the role of IPR into full play in improving the country's
economic, scientific and technological strength and thus provide strong support
for the building of a nation of innovation, President Hu Jintao said during a
group study of the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party of China's
Central Committee in May.
Hu also stressed at a summit of the "APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Organization) Economic Leaders" last November in the Republic of Korea that
China would strengthen IPR protection to contribute to the global trade growth.
He said later while meeting U.S. President George W. Bush that the Chinese
government would willingly beef up muscle in fighting IPR infringement.
China is facing the arduous task of building up a well-off society, while at
the same time it has to solve the problems of energy, resources and environment
brought by rapid economic growth, said Xu Guanhua, minister of science and
technology.
Xu added that during the process of economic development, the costs of labor
are increasing, and China cannot always depend on low-cost labor as an advantage
for economic development. China has to create more proprietary IPRs to get more
profits and to support the development of the whole country.
