In October 2000, the proposal made by China and Algeria of establishing 26 April as the “4.26 World Intellectual Property Day” was unanimously adopted at the 36th Assemblies of the Member States of World Intellectual Property Organization convened in Geneva, Switzerland. As a result, 26 April 2001 became the first “4.26 World Intellectual Property Day”.

On 7 April 2004, the Organizing Committee of the Intellectual Property Publicity Week composed of the National Office of Rectification and Standardization of Market Economic Order, National Copyright Administration and other 7 ministries and commissions concerning intellectual property rights held a press conference in Beijing, announcing that from 2004, the “Publicity Week of Intellectual Property Rights Protection” themed as “Respecting Intellectual Property Rights, Maintaining Market Orders” to be jointly conducted nationwide. And the activity continues today.

In recent years, under the leadership of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), the theme and activity scheme of the National Intellectual Property Publicity Week of the year are decided by all composing departments of SIPO, and then issued to concerned authorizes all over the nation in the name of the Organizing Committee composed of CPC Publicity Department, Ministry of Education, the Information Office of the State Council, National Copyright Administration and other 21 relevant organs. Therefore, the publicity activities of intellectual property rights protection reach a climax a week before 26 April.