On April 20, 2022, the 2022 AnnualConference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) was held in Boao, Hainan, Chinaunder the theme of “The World in COVID-19 & Beyond: Working Together forGlobal Development and Shared Future”. Xie Hongxing, Director of Bluetech CleanAir Alliance, was invited to participate in the panel of Intellectual Propertyin Asia: Trends and Opportunities, jointly organized by BFA and WIPO.
At the beginning of the panel, XIA Junli,President of Hainan Free Trade Port Intellectual Property Court, said that Asiais one of the regions with the most development vitality and potential in theworld. Asia’s attention to world intellectual property increase with eachpassing day. Since 2021, BFA has included IP as one of the main topics. This reflectsthe importance attached by BFA to IP and the importance attached by WIPO toAsian Development and the BFA.
At the panel, LI Baodong, Secretary Generalof BFA, said that under the background of the current great changes in theworld and the increasing uncertainty of global economic recovery, innovationand IP protection had become important driving forces to promote technologicalprogress, promote industrial upgrading and achieve sustainable development.China attaches great importance to IP protection. From the government toacademia and business community, they are constantly raising their awareness ofIP protection. The formulation of relevant policies, capital investment and lawenforcement are also being strengthened. In addition, China aims to acceleratethe transformation of IP achievements and build an innovative ecologicalsystem, which has achieved good progress.
ZHANG Jianchun, Vice Minister, PublicityDepartment of the CPC Central Committee, said that China will coordinate theconstruction of culture, IP, and copyright power to constantly improve themodernization of the copyright governance system and governance capacity. Chinawill fully release the great vitality of copyright to stimulate innovation andcreation, and continuously improve the strong driving force of copyright tolead high-quality development. China will fully show the unique charm ofcopyright to promote civilized exchanges and mutual learning.
SHEN Changyu, Director of China NationalIntellectual Property Administration, said that the global pattern ofscientific and technological innovation is under profound evolution now. Thestrength of technological innovation in Asia has increased rapidly. Asia hasbecome a highland of global innovation and IP output, and effectively promotesthe development of the world economy. Yokohama, Shenzhen-Hong Kong-GuangzhouArea, Beijing and Seoul rank among the top four in the world's best technologyagglomerations. The number of technology patent applications from Asia accountsfor more than half of the total. China's PCT international patent applicationsrank first globally for three consecutive years.
LIU Hua, Director of World IntellectualProperty Organization Office in China, said that China has great potential inthe global innovation and creation landscape, IP has great potential for theconstruction of China's innovation-driven country, and BFA has a greatpotential in leading Asia in building a new and innovative economy. The globalinnovation center is shifting to Asia, and China's innovation performance isparticularly strong. China is the onlymiddle-income economy entering into the top 15. China also has 19 toptechnology clusters. In 2021, China ranked first and third in Patent CooperationTreaty and Madrid system respectively . Huawei has become the largest applicantof Patent Cooperation Treaty for five consecutive years. Innovation has becomethe core force of China's economic development. IP rights play an increasinglyimportant role in China's innovation, creation and entrepreneurship. Startingfrom 2021, WIPO has cooperated with the BFA to incorporate IP into thepermanent agenda of the BFA. WIPO is willing to work with partners to build aninnovation hub in Asia, and use IP as a powerful tool for growth, developmentand prosperity.
XIE Hongxing, Director of Bluetech CleanAir Alliance, said that China’s carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals makeChina the world’s largest carbon emission reduction country with the largestgreen technology market of over 70 trillion USD. Chinese innovators are verykeen in the fields of green technologies. Taking the energy storage industry asan example, Chinese applicants had filled half of the global patentapplications in the direction of lithium batteries. The number of patents filledby Chinese applicants in other fields of energy storage (such as liquid flowbatteries, flying wheel energy storage and sodium sulfur batteries) has alsoranked first globally. This shows that China has actively participated in greeninnovation and has gradually led the global green revolution. However, manyinnovations are concentrated in research institutions and universities.Therefore, how to commercialize these innovations is the challenge, but it alsoprovides opportunities for partners from all over Asia.
Guests of the panel also included: LuizHenrique DO AMARAL, President of The International Association for theProtection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI); HU Shengtao, Director ofIntellectual Property Department, Technology Development Committee of Ping AnInsurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.; Rena LEE, Chief Executive ofIntellectual Property Office of Singapore; Kiyoshi MORI, Commissioner of JapanPatent Office; TU Guangshao, Adjunct Professor of Shanghai Jiao TongUniversity; YU Xiang, Director of Sino-European Institute for IntellectualProperty.
Since 2021, IP has become a permanent topicof BFA, and relevant forums and panels have been held. The sub forum,Intellectual Property in Asia: Trends and Opportunities, focuses on the role ofAsia in the global IP governance system. It shares the changes in IP policiesin major Asian countries and regions, and discusses the opportunities and risksbrought by new technologies, new business forms and new trends in IP. Thisforum explores the modes and paths of strengthening cross regional IPprotection cooperation, and it is an important link to the 2022 annual meetingof BFA. WIPO and the BFA jointly organized the sub forum. BCAA is a strategicpartner of WIPO GREEN, a green technology promotion and matchmaking platform ofWIPO. In 2021, BCAA and WIPO GREENjointly launched the city acceleration project in China and established thefirst pilot in Beijing.
