China News Service:

The protection of intellectual property (IP) is crucial for high-quality development, and strictly protecting IP will encourage greater enthusiasm for scientific and technological innovation. What efforts have the public security organs made to crack down on infringements, counterfeiting and other illegal activities infringing on IP rights? What achievements have been made in this regard? Thank you.

Qi Yanjun:

Thank you for your questions. Mr. Li Jiantao, as the chairperson said previously, is director general of the Bureau of Environmental, Resource, Food and Drug Crime Investigation. He is also director general of the Bureau of Intellectual Property Crime Investigation. As such, I'd like to invite Mr. Li to answer this question. 

Li Jiantao:

Thank you for your concern. In recent years, the public security organs nationwide have prioritized the protection of IP rights. We have organized the "Kunlun" series of special campaigns for six consecutive years to crack down on all kinds of crimes infringing on IP rights in accordance with the law, providing sound legal support for fostering new quality productive forces and promoting high-quality development. In June this year, the Bureau of Environmental, Resource, Food and Drug Crime Investigation of the MPS was given an additional title of the Bureau of Intellectual Property Crime Investigation in a bid to encourage the public security organs across the country to strengthen their professional teams, and provide more guidance for the endeavors to crack down on IP rights infringements. From January to July this year, public security organs across China have filed and investigated 21,000 cases of IP infringements and counterfeits. To be more specific, we have made efforts in the following aspects:

First, we have been firmly committed to the principle of strict measures in accordance with law. We have launched intensive crackdowns on violations of IP rights which the public are concerned about, including the production and sale of counterfeit goods, counterfeiting and piracy, so as to maintain a high level of deterrence against such crimes. Moreover, in order to meet the needs of sci-tech innovation and their industrial development, we have stepped up our efforts to combat infringements of commercial secrets and patent counterfeiting in the fields of new technologies, new industries and new business formats. Notably, we have intensified our efforts to tighten regulations on the filing of criminal cases related to infringements of commercial secrets, providing effective solutions to the pressing difficulties faced by some enterprises in reporting and collecting evidence for such types of cases. 

As Mr. Qi said, we have upheld and fulfilled the commitments to the public and non-public sectors, and made optimizing the business environment a top priority, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of all businesses in a law-based and equitable manner. As such, we are able to help build a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment. We have been committed to proactive and preventive policing. Given the problem of weak self-protection awareness among some enterprises, we have promoted some experiences and practices, such as the practices of the Zhejiang police which have specifically designated police officers to deal with IP-related policing matters and the practices of the Changsha Public Security Bureau in Hunan province which set up work stations in enterprises to protect their IP. By doing so, we aim to intervene, detect and deal with infringement risks as early as possible, so as to help enterprises improve their self-protection capabilities. 

IP protection is intertwined with a wide range of fields. As a result, we have attached great importance to inter-departmental coordination, so as to establish a collaborative work model that leverages professional expertise, mobilizes entire police forces, and fosters inter-departmental collaboration, and public participation. We have worked with departments responsible for IP, market regulation and copyright to enhance the connection between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice, and make joint efforts to launch crackdown campaigns. We have promoted the advanced experiences of Beijing's collaborative law enforcement mechanism, which combines the law enforcement forces of the public security organs and administrative departments, to ensure information sharing, joint analysis and decision-making, as well as mutual transfer of cases, so as to establish a collaborative governance mechanism.

In order to better fulfill our responsibilities for ensuring criminal protection of IP rights, we have been working to enhance our capabilities. This includes strengthening our foundational work in law enforcement systems, intelligence and investigative techniques. Therefore, a work system which is well-equipped to address practical matters has taken shape. Since last year, we have been actively promoting the practices of the Fujian Provincial Department of Public Security in setting up doctoral work stations to develop investigative techniques for IP protection. This has been helpful in strengthening professional and scientific research, and fostering specialized talents and top-notch investigation teams in different fields, which will improve our capabilities in overcoming difficulties. Thank you.