China's National Intellectual Property Administration holds a press conference on Monday in Beijing. Photo: Song Lin/GT

China will give equal treatment to all market players and equal protection for both domestic and foreign enterprises' intellectual property rights (IPR), in a bid to create a better environment for innovation and business, an official on Monday said after China issued a tougher guideline on enhancing IPR protection.

The guideline was jointly announced by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, on Sunday, aiming to curb frequent IPR violations by 2022 with stricter law enforcement, higher penalties and faster progress on rights protection progress. The guideline also aims to foster an optimized business environment by 2025 that respects intellectual value, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by China's National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).

"The Chinese government will offer strict protection to foreign applicants' intellectual property in China," Gan Shaoning, deputy head of the CNIPA, said at a press conference in Beijing on Monday, noting that it is groundless for certain countries to criticize China's IPR.

Wang Yingtao, head of the Beijing representative office for Germany-based dental material manufacturer DMG, told the Global Times on Monday that China's strengthening IPR has sent a positive signal for foreign-funded companies in the country as IPR have been always been a crucial factor that the latter attaches importance to.

"Improved protection for technology will accelerate the decision-making of our company to transfer assembly line to China," Wang said, noting that DMG has been considering such a move in recent years but has not made a final decision.

The German company planned in the initial phase to transfer its production line and sales network to China, from where it could function in markets in surrounding Southeast Asia and East Asia, according to Wang.

"Foreign companies have confidence that the Chinese government has a strong enforcement ability after making decisions," said Wang.

As China has vowed to broaden market access to all companies and create a sound, open market environment, enhancing the implementation of IPR has become an essential issue, industry insiders said.

"What the West has criticized as to China involving so-called forced transfers of technology is total nonsense," an industry insider, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Global Times. 

"Foreign companies want a piece of the growing Chinese market and they are willing to share their technology to access the market. It's mutuality of business, not forcing at all," he said.

Responding to speculation that China's move on IPR protection has any linkage with China-US trade talks, Gan said China's decision to enhance IPR protection is an inherent demand of its own development, as China is promoting innovation-driven development, and IPR protection is an indispensable basis.

China has sought to promote IPR protection by improving legislation, law enforcement and other issues, Zhao Zhanling, a senior analyst at the Center for IPR Studies at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times on Monday.

By setting up clear time points of the IPR promotion plan, China will speed up the national IPR protection plan, though progress has been made during the past several years, Chen Jihong, partner of Beijing-based Zhong Lun Law Firm, told the Global Times.
Newspaper headline: Tougher guideline on IPR protection