207. On 23 January 2017, the amended TRIPS Agreement entered into force. This is the very first amendment to WTO laws since the establishment of the WTO. China appreciates and welcomes it. China has always attached great attention to the issue of TRIPS and public health and believes that this amendment is helpful to secure a pathway to access to affordable medicines in the countries that lack medicine production capacity, and to overcome the public health difficulties in these countries.
208. Domestically, China has been using compulsory licensing, parallel imports and the Bolar exception which is permissible under TRIPS and the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health to promote access to medicines and secure public health. China's Patent Law and implementation regulation have specific provisions on compulsory licensing, which have been improved with the later amendments. In 2012, combining the related provisions, China issued the new detailed rules for compulsory licensing for easy operation.
209. The UN Secretary-General's High Level Panel Report on Access to Medicines gives various recommendations on promoting innovation, strengthening access to medicines, securing public health, which are of great value to the discussion on public health in the WTO. China notes that Members might have different views on the content and proposals in this Report, but still hopes that with this opportunity, Members could exchange views and experiences on how to take full advantage of the flexibilities in the TRIPS Agreement, and effectively address the public health issues.