IP Will Empower China's Cross-border E-commerce Industry Soaring

May 15, 2021

The 5th Global Cross-border E-commerce Conference was held on May 10, 2021 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. As an important part of the Conference, the 50 People's Forum of China Cross-border E-commerce and China-EU Cross-border E-commerce Cooperation Forum, brought together representatives from international organizations, government agencies, embassies and consulates, industrial associations, renowned cross-border e-commerce enterprises to exchange and discuss on the theme of "Great Changes, New Opportunities, Common Development". Ms. Liu Hua, Director of WIPO Office in China (WOC), delivered a keynote speech virtually on IPRs for E-commerce.

In her speech, Director Liu mentioned that in a globalizing and digitalizing world, enterprises in and outside of China have joined the fierce competition in international trade, particularly through cross-border e-commerce. In this context, the Conference was a timely move, aiming to empower enterprises including SMEs, in keeping pace with the times and seeking new development opportunities.

She pointed out that in an innovation-driven global economy, the protection and promotion of IP has become an important consideration for policy makers and businesses. Cross-border e-commerce involves a wide range of IPRs, including patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, geographical indications, etc. In recent years, disputes related to database, computer software, online domain name, unfair competition have been on a rise, so is the counterfeiting and infringement.

Ms. Liu stressed that WIPO would provide effective solutions to cross-border IP issues and dispute resolution. WIPO, as a specialized agency of the UN, is mandated to lead the construction of a balanced and effective global IP system, through innovation and creativity, and promotes economic and social development for the benefit of all. It is often referred as a golden knowledge asset with five sets of golden keys leading to it, namely, policy forum, registries, databases, cooperation platforms and capacity building programmes.

Data shows in 2019, China's cross-border e-commerce retail imports and exports reached RMB 186.21 billion, five times as much as that of in 2015, with an average annual growth rate of 49.5%. 2020 witnessed the growth rate of China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached 31.1%, which fully demonstrates the huge potential and strong dynamism of China's e-commerce industry.

Ms. Liu said that WIPO sees a bright future of China and its e-commerce industry. According to WIPO Global Innovation Index（GII）2020, China maintains its ranking at 14th in the world and has been the only middle-income economy in the GII Top 30 for many years. China has also achieved good results in a number of segments: in terms of the quality of innovation, it has been ranked first among middle-income economies for eight years; it has 17 of the world's top science and technology clusters; it ranked 17th in the new indicator "Value of top 5,000 Global brands as a Percentage of GDP", with 408 brands in the top 5,000 globally.

As an extension of WIPO in China, the WOC will continue to strengthen cooperation and coordination with China, secure its global IP services and products in China, seize the opportunities of China, reach out to new technologies, new champions of emerging industries and new generations. It will provide more targeted, more timely and higher-quality IP services to empower China's e-commerce industry.