404. China thanks Members to add this item into agenda and submit these documents. In 2018, the Societal Values of IP in New Economics has been discussed and positive results have been achieved. China also joined the discussion and shared our practices.
405. China pays great attention on the important role of innovation and IP protection in new economies. In order to encourage innovation and creativity, on one hand, the legal system of IP protection has been improved. Based on Patent Law, Trademark Law and Copyright Law, China has set up modern regulation and law system on IP protection. Currently, China is working on amending the Patent Law and the Copyright Law. Besides, China continuously strengthens law enforcement on IPR protection. China has set up three IPR courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and special judicial organs at 15 intermediate courts in Nanjing, Suzhou and other cities to handle cross-regional IPR cases, including those related to patents. China has also strengthened administrative enforcement and launched special campaigns.
406. China has taken great efforts and made great achievements on IP protection and innovation promotion. In 2017, China received 1.382 million invention patent applications, ranking the first in the world for the seventh consecutive year. Nearly 10% of the applicants were foreign entities and individuals. Invention patent applications filed by foreign entities and individuals in China reached 136,000. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, 51,000 patent applications filed from China through the Patent Cooperation Treaty were accepted in 2017, second only to the US. Besides, new technologies are also in the fields as high-speed trains, nuclear energy, new generation telecommunication, aerospace and etc.
407. Meanwhile, it should be noted that most of the Patents in China are patents for utility models and design patents, patents for invention are not as much as others. According to the statistics by World Bank, China collected USD 4.7 billion patent fees, amount to 1.3% of world total, while paid USD 28.6 billion patent fees, with USD 23.8 billion deficit.
408. Therefore, China hopes to draw Member's attention to the following facts. Firstly, it is agreed that for generation and development of new business, besides innovation and IPR protection, capital, human resources and other elements are also essential, for developing Members, capital and human resources play an even more important role. Secondly, innovation cannot be achieved in one day. It needs huge amount of investment and primitive accumulation. Compared to the developed country Members, developing country Members suffer deficiency in primitive accumulation. Currently, there still exists wide gap between developed and developing country Members on the level and ability of innovation. We hope that Members can realize this and explore effective solutions.
