BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) -- China has promulgated its own intellectual property strategy, which is aimed at promoting innovation and the use of new technologies by China's industries. Following is an introduction of the country's intellectual property system:

    Science and civilization in China have lasted thousands of years. As a profound tradition, knowledge and intellectuals have been truly respected. Chinese people have zealously advocated innovation. Papermaking, gunpowder, the compass and movable type printing are four gifts China contributed to the world, which have changed the history of mankind. Those inventions have been recounted in children's books, alongside Thomas Edison's bulb, Alexander Graham Bell's telephone and the Wright brothers' airplane.

    However, Chinese science and civilization has declined over the past four centuries. Why did it happen? One of the key reasons is that knowledge and technology was not perceived as a commodity, and a modern intellectual property (IP) system was not established in China until the 1980s. Comparatively, Europe boasted an IP system as early as the 17th century, which boosted the development of the Industrial Revolution. Therefore, an IP system is a basic guarantee for the enhancement of a country's innovation and is of great significance to economic development and social progress.

    Accompanied with the technological revolution and economic globalization, IP has gradually become a strategic resource and core to competitiveness. China has learned a bitter lesson from centuries of backwardness. People have realized that more importance should be attached to the IP system, which is essential for the country's sustainable development.

    Three decades ago, a modern IP system emerged in China with the implementation of Reform and Opening-up. China promulgated the Trademark Law in 1982, the Patent Law in 1985 and the Copyright Law in 1990. Over the past 20 years, China also enacted laws to protect Geographical Indications, Trade Secrets, New Plant Varieties and Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits. After its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, China amended its IP laws in line with its commitments, which, at present, accords with WTO standards.

    From then on, great efforts have been exerted by Chinese courts and government agencies to effectively enforce the law. Since the 1990s, the number of foreign patent applications filed in China has increased more than five-fold, among which, patents filed in China by American companies have seen an average annul growth of 19 percent. By 2006, foreigners' registered trademarks in China had reached 490,000. Multinational companies (MNCs) have set up an increasing number of R&D centers in China. All these demonstrate that IP laws have been enforced firmly in China, whichis applauded by foreign investors.