Shen Changyu, director of the CNIPA, speaks during the year-of-end meeting of CNIPA in Beijing on Monday. Photo: Courtesy of CNIPA

China on Monday vowed to further strengthen its protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and to release an outline of how it will do so in 2020, according to the official website of China's National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).

At the CNIPA's end-of-year meeting in Beijing, the top Chinese IPR regulator emphasized that 2020 will be the year China concludes its IPR development under the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). It also released plans for seven ways to improve IPR protection during the year.

Shen Changyu, director of the CNIPA, said that the reform of IPR protection has become a great achievement, as China's international influence on IPR protection and people's ability to utilize their IPR have increased in the past year.

"Intellectual property creation is the key to promoting an innovative economy and high-quality development. Strengthening IPR protection is an important measure to improve China's international core competitiveness," Shen said.

Xiao Yaqing, head of the State Administration for Market Regulation, also said at the meeting that to better protect IPR, market supervision should be strengthened and international cooperation should be promoted to further enhance China's international core competitiveness.

The meeting concluded that in order to promote China's IPR protection and to complete an outline in 2020, the CNIPA will march toward seven goals. These include improving the quality and efficiency of IPR reviews, strengthening international cooperation on IPR protection, and delegating governmental control of IPR.

The best way to protect IPR is a concern that has been much discussed as China further opens up its market. In November, China issued a directive calling for intensified protection of IPR, and vowed to maintain social satisfaction for China's IPR protection, the Xinhua News Agency reported.