Chinese Plans For Intellectual Property Protection

China will adopt new measures to protect intellectual property rights,according to the country's state councillor and minister in charge of the State Science and Technology Commission, Song Jian. He said at a national conference in the capital Beijing earlier this month, reported by the Xinhau news agency, that the measure is intended to improve the competitiveness of China's products on the international market.

Mr Song explained that the number of patents applied for by all Chinese enterprises in any given year is smaller than that for even one large foreign company. Some well-known Chinese trademarks are even registered by foreigners, he noted, and so "we are losing a great share of the international market."

Most High-Tech Patent Applications By "Foreigners" According to statistics, in 1996, Chinese enterprises and institutes applied for 25,126 patents. However, in some high-technology fields, such as electronics, medicine, communications, chemicals and aerospace, foreign patent applications accounted for as much as 80% or even 90% of the total. And in the past 10 years, Chinese companies have applied for only 2,000 patents in foreign countries.