China has always adopted a responsible attitude to actively promoting intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and major progress has been made on IPR protection over the past years, says a white paper released by the Information Office of China's State Council Thursday.

The white paper, titled New Progress in China's Protection of Intellectual Property Rights, says that China has set up a relatively complete system of laws and regulations that covers a wide range of subjects and is in line with generally accepted international rules.

Since the 1980s, China has promulgated and put into effect a number of laws and regulations covering the major contents in IPR protection including the "Patent Law of the People's Republic of China."

In 2001, around the time when China was admitted into the WorldTrade Organization (WTO), the country made comprehensive revisionsto the laws and regulations regarding IPR protection and their legal interpretation to conform to the WTO's "Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights" and other international rules on IPR protection.

China has also established and improved a coordinated and efficient work system and a law enforcement mechanism.

In IPR protection, a two-way parallel protection mode, namely, administrative and judicial protection, has emerged in China. In 2004 China established the State IPR Protection Work Team headed by a vice-premier of the State Council, responsible for planning and coordinating the work regarding IPR protection throughout the country.

China has shifted its focus from legislation to law enforcementas gradual improvements are made in the legal system on IPR protection, says the white paper.

In August 2004, the Chinese government decided to launch a special one-year campaign to protect IPR across the country from September 2004 to August 2005. It was decided at the national TV and telephone conference on rectification and standardization of the market economic order convened by the State Council on March 31, 2005, that the campaign was extended to the end of 2005.

The Chinese government has also made efforts to heighten the awareness of the general public about IPR.

Beginning in 2004, the state designated the week from April 20 to 26 every year as the "week for publicizing the importance of IPR protection" to create a social atmosphere in which labor, knowledge, talent and creation are respected.

According to the white paper, China has also been actively fulfilling the international obligations to protect IPR.

China has taken an active approach to joining major international conventions and agreements on IPR protection. Following its accession to the World Intellectual Property Organization in 1980, China joined in succession more than ten international conventions, treaties, agreements and protocols.

While strictly executing its international obligations in IPR protection, China has devoted great efforts to adjusting and improving international rules regarding IPR protection and held talks, and engaged in exchanges and cooperation with other countries, international organizations and foreign-invested enterprises in the field of IPR, the white paper says.

Source: Xinhua