IP comes under the spotlight as China strives for innovation

A focus on innovation in the new five-year plan follows a year of legal change in intellectual property. By Colin Galloway

Five-year plans are always a good indicator of the government’s economic priorities. The endorsement in March of the 12th five-year plan by the National People’s Congress is no exception. Although the new plan offers, as usual, a sweeping vision of China’s future, it has a particular focus on the importance of innovation to the future of the country’s economy.

Premier Wen Jiabao’s presentation to the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party last October named “weakness in innovation” as the fourth of 10 major challenges faced by China. It also elevated the creation of an “innovation-driven” society into a national priority over the coming five years. This newfound focus on innovation as a lynchpin of future economic growth makes it fair to assume that over the long term, protection of Chinese IP will also be pushed to the fore.

For now, that may be little consolation to IP rights holders still struggling against infringement in China.