China has made firm commitment, great efforts and remarkable achievements on the intellectual property right protection. It still takes time for this developing country with a huge population to build an impeccable IPR protection regime.

Wu Handong, President of Zhongnan University of Economics and Laws and vice director of China's IPR Research Institute made these remarks in his article published on the overseas edition of People's Daily Friday.

The article says the intellectual property rights protection is a common concern of the international community. The significance of IPR regime has been highlighted to an unprecedented extent in the economic and social life. That has happened when the human society has entered a knowledge-based era. It is the accumulation and innovation of the knowledge that the national wealth and human livelihood increasingly depend on.

China has made remarkable achievements on the legislation and system building of the IPR since the 1980s. Reviewing the 20 years of cooperation with China, Dr. Arpad Bogsch, former director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), said "China had accomplished all this at a speed unmatched in the history of intellectual property rights protection".

Before and after China jointed the World Trade Organization in 2001, China overhauled its laws and regulations governing the intellectual property rights to make them gear with the international standard on IPR, including the WTO intellectual property (TRIPS) agreement.

The coordinated and efficient administration system for the IPR protection works with the legal system. In 2004, a national task force was in place to coordinate the nationwide IPR protection endeavor. That has consolidated the macro-governance of the IPR protection.

During the tenth Five-year Plan period (2001-2005), the Chinese government conducted a sweeping campaign cracking down IPR infringement cases around the nation. In that campaign, a batch of IPR infringement cases were handled, compensation was arranged to individuals whose interests were harmed in civil IPR cases, illicit activities infringing the IPR rights were punished, and legitimate rights of IPR holders were protected more effectively.

The government has also made efforts on building a more IPR-minded society. Education was launched to government officials and the public to improve their awareness of the protection of intellectual property rights.

China is the signatory of international IPR protocols. It deals with the world IPR trade disputes responsibly and has good cooperation with other countries on the issue.

All these actions have reflected China's determination and efforts on reinforcing the IPR protection. But how can a developing country with a population of 1.3 billion, less developed economy and unfledged sci-tech prowess put a perfect IPR protection system in place overnight? A right view of China's current IPR protection is based on the country's situation with a long-term perspective.

The author finally calls for a modernized IPR regime which boosts the modernization of science and technology.

By People's Daily Online