On March 28, 2024, the High-level Roundtable on Intellectual Property for Sustainable Development was held at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2024. The participants discussed the new opportunities and challenges brought by new technologies, new business forms, and new trends to intellectual property nowadays. They believed that intellectual property is of great significance in promoting global green and sustainable development.
Mr. Zhang Jianchun, Vice Minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, pointed out at the meeting that since the 18th National Congress of the CPC was convened, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has pressed ahead with the development of the cultural industry as a national strategy. A series of major decisions and arrangements were made, which helped achieve remarkable progress in China’s cultural industry. In 2023, the operating revenues of cultural enterprises above the designated size in the country reached nearly RMB 13 trillion, an increase of 8.2% over the previous year. The cultural industry has become a new driving force for economic growth and an important field for developing new quality productive forces. As one of the most essential resources of the cultural industry, copyrights have given lasting vitality to the cultural industry. Going forward, China will continue to strengthen copyright protection, promote the prosperity and development of the copyright industry in an all-round manner, reinforce copyright protection and application of folk art, and actively participate in global copyright governance. In doing so, China aims to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, further modernize the copyright governance system and governance capabilities, and stimulate cultural innovation and creativity with copyrights, thus promoting green and sustainable economic and social development.
In recent years, China has unleashed unprecedented momentum of innovation and creativity in the copyright industry and has achieved fruitful results in translating copyrights into industrial outcomes. Statistics show that in 2022, China’s copyright industry generated a value added of RMB 8.97 trillion, accounting for 7.41% of its GDP. In 2023, copyright registrations in China reached 8.92 million in total, a year-on-year increase of 40.46%, which was nearly nine times that of a decade ago.
Mr. Li Baodong, BFA Secretary General, said that scientific and technological (S&T) innovation is an important driving force for global sustainable development. Today, a new round of S&T revolution and industrial transformation is pacing up, spanning various fields from artificial intelligence, life sciences, quantum computing, information and communications technology (ICT) to renewable energy, artificial sun, new energy vehicles (NEVs), and space technology. It is reshaping the global innovation landscape and economic structure, and accelerating economic transformation and upgrades towards green, intelligent, and digital development. Taking S&T innovation as a key approach to achieving sustainable development, Asian economies have made remarkable progress in the field of intellectual property, injecting new momentum into regional and global economic growth.
According to statistics recently released by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), China has become the first country in the world with more than 4 million valid domestic invention patents, of which high-value ones account for more than 40%. The number of international patent applications filed by Chinese applicants through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) has ranked 1st in the world for four consecutive years. China ranks 12th in the Global Innovation Index 2023 released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), with six indicators topping the list globally.
Mr. Shen Changyu, Commissioner of CNIPA, said that in recent years, China had been pursuing industrial innovation driven by S&T innovation, and witnessed a flourishing green industry. Going forward, the China National Intellectual Property Administration will continue to deepen practical cooperation and strengthen mutual learning and exchanges with WIPO and intellectual property administrations of other countries. CNIPA will make concerted efforts to build a more dynamic global intellectual property ecosystem and contribute to green development for a better future.
Mr. Pu Chun, Vice Minister of the State Administration for Market Regulation, introduced that in recent years, China has stepped up efforts to protect intellectual property, aiming to create a green, innovative environment and drive sustainable development through green and low-carbon initiatives. By proactively advancing intellectual property work, China has played a pivotal role in strengthening intellectual property protection and promoting sustainable development.
Mr. Daren Tang, Director-General of WIPO, believes that intellectual property can play a significant role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and driving S&T innovation. All sectors of society around the world, including governments, industry communities, institutions of high learning and research institutes, should engage in open and win-win cooperation in developing green science and technology, addressing climate change, and making breakthroughs in new technologies, so as to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity.
Since 2021, intellectual property has become a permanent topic of BFA. The High-level Roundtable on Intellectual Property for Sustainable Development, co-organized by WIPO and BFA, is an important event of the BFA Annual Conference 2024 and one of a series of events on World Intellectual Property Day 2024.