Photo taken on July 20, 2021 shows China's self-developed 600 km/h maglev train, with independent intellectual property. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By Staff Reporters

The fruitful cooperation between China and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has spanned over five decades.

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has conducted multi-angled, deep-level and fruitful cooperation with WIPO in terms of innovation capability assessment, exchanges on statistical materials and publications, human resources and capacity building, said Wang Zhigang, China's minister of MOST, when meeting WIPO's Director General Daren Tang in Beijing on April 26.

China is now a crucial user of WIPO's international registration systems for patents, trademarks and industrial designs.

For four consecutive years, Chinese applicants have consistently ranked first in international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). They have also ranked third for several years in terms of applications for the International Registration of Marks under the Madrid System. In 2022, China joined the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs, which gained them the second-largest number of applications.

Additionally, 101 Technology and Innovation Support Centers were established in China by the two parties. The RMB is now accepted for the pricing and settlement of PCT application related costs, and the Chinese language has been included as a working language for the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants administered by WIPO.

In 2014, WIPO opened an office in Beijing, and the following year, China established the WIPO China Funds -in-Trust. In 2017, the two parties signed an agreement for closer collaboration in the field of intellectual property regarding the Belt and Road Initiative.

Tang said that WIPO is willing to deepen cooperation with MOST in the Global Innovation Index, sci-tech tackling the challenges facing mankind, and sharing of the best practices for sci-tech innovation.

In 1980, China became a member of WIPO. Later, China subsequently joined the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks in 1989 and the PCT in 1994.