China is Building a Modern and effective IP Ecosystem —Director General Daren Tang Delivered a Video Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the ZGC Forum

September 26, 2021

The 2021 ZGC Forum was held in Beijing on September 24-28, 2021, co-hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Association for Science and Technology and the People's Government of Beijing Municipality. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a video speech at the Opening Ceremony. Vice Premier Liu He attended and announced the Opening. Mr. Cai Qi, Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, presided over the Opening Ceremony. Mr. Aleksandar Vučić, President of The Republic of Serbia, Mr. Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister of The Republic of Cuba, Mr. Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Mr. Vladimir Imamovich Norov, Secretary General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Mr. Daya Reddy, President of the International Science Council delivered video speeches. Ms. Liu Hua, Director of WIPO Office in China (WOC), attended the Opening Ceremony as invited.

In his speech, President Xi pointed out that with the broad and far-reaching influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and severe challenges facing global economic recovery, it is even more important for different nations to step up openness and innovation in science and technology and jointly explore pathways and methods to solving key global issues with innovation. He also stressed the need for a joint response to current challenges and jointly promoting the noble cause of peace and development of mankind.

President Xi pledged to support Beijing's Zhongguancun, the nation's first demonstration zone for independent innovation, in conducting a new round of pilot reform and expediting steps to develop itself into a leading global tech park.

Highlights of video speech by WIPO Director General Mr. Daren Tang:

Zhongguancun is known as China’s Silicon Valley and the birthplace of innovative and creative companies such as Baidu and Xiaomi which have grown to become worldwide brands. Today, this same spirit of inventiveness is needed more than ever.

Consider the three most pressing challenges facing humanity: overcoming COVID-19, ensuring a sustainable and inclusive post-pandemic recovery, and putting the world on environmentally sustainable footing – innovation and creativity are crucial to providing solutions to all three. With this in mind, I would like to share some key findings from WIPO’s 2021 Global Innovation Index (GII), released on 20 September.

This year‘s GII explored how the pandemic has affected the global innovation landscape. While the impact has varied in different regions of the world – the overall picture is that investments in innovation have largely weathered the economic downturn.

Within this, the East Asia region – and China in particular – have proven especially resilient, registering higher R&D expenditure and vibrant venture capital activity despite the crisis. This has helped China to improve its overall position from 14th in last year’s GII to 12th this year. Indeed, in the last decade, China has consistently improved its GII ranking and remains the only middle-income economy to feature in the top 30. This sustained development reflects China’s decades-long commitment to investing in science, technology and education and the progress China has made in building a modern and effective IP ecosystem.

At WIPO our vision is of a world where innovation and creativity from anywhere is supported by IP for the good of everyone. In a global economy increasingly defined by intangible assets such as IP, data and know how – which are also becoming the most important assets to the Chinese economy – WIPO will continue to support all Member States to strengthen their IP ecosystems, build global respect for IP and confront emerging issues, such as the relationship between IP and frontier technologies. WIPO will also reach out to communities such as small and medium sized enterprises, start-ups, women and youth who have often been on the margins of IP ecosystems. Together, we must foster a more accessible global IP ecosystem which enables the full sum of our talents to use IP as a powerful tool for growth and sustainable development the world over.

During this time of crisis and opportunity, WIPO looks forward to working with China and all our global partners to bring this vision to life.

About ZGC Forum

Launched in 2007 and with the permanent theme of “Innovation & Development”, the ZGC Forum has grown into a global, comprehensive, open, and high-level international platform for enhancing global innovation in science and technology. Themed "Intelligence·Health·Carbon Neutrality", the 2021 ZGC Forum added the frontier technology competition and supporting activities and held a series of regular activities to further enrich and expand the functions of the Forum. During the Forum, the world's top scientists, Nobel Prize winners, Turing Award winners and Fields Medal winners, representatives from scientific research and academic institutions, leaders of international organizations, entrepreneurs and investors will conduct in-depth discussions on hot topics of common global concerns such as the digital economy, life and health, clean energy and sustainable development.