Congratulatory Letter from Ms. Wang Binying, Deputy Director General of WIPO, to the ‘Belt and Road’ Summit Forum for Scientific and Technological Innovation and International Intellectual Property

July 13, 2021

The ‘Belt and Road’ Summit Forum for Scientific and Technological Innovation and International Intellectual Property hosted by Gansu Provincial People’s Government was held during the 27th China Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair on July 9, 2021. Mr. Zhang Shizhen, the Vice Governor of Gansu Province and Mr. Zhao Gang, the Deputy Commissioner of CNIPA, made the opening remarks. Ms. Wang Binying, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), sent a congratulatory letter to the Forum. Ms. Liu Hua, Director of WIPO Office in China (WOC), attended the Forum and delivered a keynote speech.

Highlights of Congratulations from Ms. WANG Binying, Deputy Director General of WIPO

On behalf of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and its Director General, Mr. Daren Tang, I am glad to congratulate the Belt and Road Forum on Scientific and Technological Innovation and Intellectual Property. And I would like to express my gratitude for inviting WIPO to attend the Forum at the Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair.

Lanzhou, known as the Pearl of the Yellow River, has been an important commercial town on the Silk Road for a long history. Today, it has developed into one of the important central cities in western China and an important node city of the Silk Road Economic Belt. It is a pity that I cannot be there to experience the Yellow River culture in Lanzhou.

Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair has been held for 27 sessions and has become an influential economic and trade event in western China. I am pleased to note that today's intellectual property forum is the first of its kind in the history of the Fair, which indicates the growing importance of intellectual property in economic and trade activities in China.

The world today is undergoing unprecedented and profound changes, with economic globalization facing challenges, and the knowledge economy on the rise. As a key to innovative development and a core element of national competitiveness, intellectual property rights have increasingly become a topic of common concern for many countries. By creating and applying intellectual property, countries can improve their core competitiveness and enterprises' ability to participate in market competition, especially in international trade. Countries have successively established intellectual property protection systems in international trade, and trade-related intellectual property issues have become the focus of international trade control.

How to protect intellectual property rights effectively in international trade? WIPO provides international registration and protection for IPR through its global IP systems. As a specialized agency of the United Nations, WIPO is the global forum with 193 member states for IP services, policy, information and cooperation. Our mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international IP system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all. WIPO also contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals by providing IP services to its member states, enabling them to use the IP system to drive the innovation, competitiveness and creativity needed to achieve these goals.

WIPO is glad to see that in just a few short decades, China had built a highly effective and modern IP system that had helped drive China's economic and social development. WIPO Director-General Daren Tang recognized China's progress in innovation, creativity and intellectual property. He attributed these achievements to the Chinese government's policy planning, implementation and evaluation, the Chinese government's commitment to deepening reform and opening up, as well as China's powerful IP system. Improving the system for the protection and application of IPR has been included in China's 14th Five-Year Plan and the Outline of the Long-Range Objectives through the Year 2035. WIPO sees great future in China’s development of innovation, and remains committed to cooperating with China in the area of intellectual property.

WIPO welcomes and participates in the Belt and Road Initiative, believing that intellectual property is an important part of the Initiative. In May 2017, during the Belt and Road Summit Forum for International Cooperation, WIPO and the China National Intellectual Property Administration signed the Agreement on Strengthening IP Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing. This is the first IP cooperation document under Belt and Road Initiative signed between the Chinese government and an international organization, which indicates that the two sides will carry out comprehensive and in-depth cooperation on the BRI construction and promote the intellectual property development of the countries and regions along the Belt and Road.

Gansu is vigorously promoting the construction of the Silk Road Port for International Intellectual Property, aiming for overseas markets while focused on Northwest China. In particular, Gansu would strengthen cooperation on IP with countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt, jointly improving the regional business environment for more economic and trade exchanges. In this context, WIPO will provide a fast and effective path to the international markets through its global IP systems for patents, industry designs, trademarks and geographical indications. My colleague, Ms. Liu Hua, Director of the WIPO Office in China, will elaborate on how WIPO Global IP Services facilitate the international layout for IP in her keynote speech.

I wish the Forum a complete success！

Mr. Sherif Saadallah, Executive Director of the WIPO Academy

About the ‘Belt and Road’ Summit Forum for Scientific and Technological Innovation and International Intellectual Property

The ‘Belt and Road’ Summit Forum for Scientific and Technological Innovation and International Intellectual Property was held during the 27th China Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair on July 9, 2021. Themed Promoting the Cultivation of New Industries and New Drivers of Growth by Scientific and Technological Innovation and Intellectual Property, the Forum invited state-owned scientific and technological enterprises to release their latest innovations, and IP scholars to discuss scientific and technological innovation, IP protection for enterprises and international cooperation of IP. 300 participants from provincial government agencies, enterprises, universities and IP service agencies of Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi and Henan provinces attended the Forum.