H.E. Ambassador Mr. Xin Shunkang　　

　　Zimbabwe Association of Recording Industries　　

　　28 March, 2012　　

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　　Hon. Minister Shamu,  　　

　　Mr. Mukamba, the President of Zimbabwe Association of Recording Industries,　　

　　Dear Colleagues from Diplomatic Corps,　　

　　Ladies and Gentlemen,　　

　　Good morning! I feel very pleased to be here to give a brief introduction of China’s experience of intellectual property protection. Since the reform and opening up policy was introduced, China has maintained a sustainable and rapid economic and social development, and has made fruitful achievements in science and technology and cultural creations. The capacity of innovation of China has been constantly improved, and knowledge is playing an increasingly critical role in China’s economic and social development. It is now of great strategic importance for China to develop and utilize knowledge-based resources, in order to transform the pattern of economic development, improve the nation’s core competitiveness and meet the increasing material and cultural demands of the people.　　　 

　　Today my presentation will be divided into two parts: 1. General introduction of China’s National Intellectual Property Strategy; 2. China’s experience on dealing with piracy. 　　

　　I. Outline of the National Intellectual Property Strategy of China　　

　　In 2008, the State Council of China issued the National Intellectual Property Strategy, for the purpose of improving China’s capacity to create, utilize, protect and administer intellectual property. In this strategy, Chinese government declared several policies of China’s intellectual property system.　　

　　First, the Objective　　

　　The objective of the strategy is to concentrate efforts on improving the intellectual property system, actively work to create a favorable legal environment, market environment and cultural environment for the development of intellectual property. By doing this, we hope by 2020, China will become a country with a comparatively high level in terms of the creation, utilization, protection and administration of intellectual property rights. 　　

　　Second, Focuses　　

　　The focuses of the strategy are: First, guide and support market entities to create and utilize intellectual property, through the use of policies related to finance, investment, industrial development, energy and environmental protection. Second, encourage enterprises to be the principal entity in the creation and utilization of intellectual property. Third, revise laws and regulations to punish infringements on intellectual property rights.　　

　　Third, Measures　　

　　The measures of the strategy include: 1. increase the capacity to create intellectual property. 2. encourage the commercialization and utilization of intellectual property rights. 3. expedite the development of legal system for intellectual property. 4. improve intellectual property law enforcement. 5. strengthen the administration of intellectual property. 6. develop intermediary services for intellectual property rights. 7. develop intellectual property human resources. 8. promote the cultivation of an intellectual property culture. 9. expand international exchanges and cooperation in intellectual property.　　

　　II. China’s Experience on Dealing with Piracy.　　

　　China has taken several measures to thoroughly implement policies against intellectual property right Infringements and the Production and Sales of Counterfeited and Forged Commodities.　　

　　1. Deal with piracy according to law. Intensify the punishment against piracy, focus on curbing the large-scale production, selling and dissemination of pirated products to effectively reduce copyright piracy. 　　

　　2. Assist the development of copyright-related industries such as the press and publication, radio, film, television, literature and the arts, cultural entertainment, advertising design, arts and crafts, computer software and information networks. 　　

　　3. Further improve relevant systems, such as copyright collective administration organizations, industrial associations, agencies and other intermediary organizations to promote the commercialization of copyrights. 　　

　　4. Adopt effective measures to address challenges by the development of the Internet and other new technologies. Properly balance the need for copyright protection and the need for information dissemination. 　　

　　5. China launched a special campaign against web infringement and piracy activities to strengthen the supervision of websites, to enhance the combating of online infringement cases, and to fight against online sales of fake and/or inferior commodities, downloading services for pirated films, TV programs and dramas, and software, private servers or add-on operation for pirated online games, or other crimes of intellectual property right infringement.　　

　　Finally, to conclude my speech, I would like to say, with years of development, China has gradually improved its system of laws and regulations on intellectual property and constantly strengthening the enforcement. Meanwhile, the intellectual property quantity has increased rapidly and their performance has constantly improved. China has expanded international exchanges in the field of intellectual property and increased its influence in international intellectual property affairs.

　　However, China’s intellectual property protection still needs improvement. The quality and quantity of the self-relied intellectual property still cannot meet the demands of economic and social development; the public awareness of the importance of intellectual property is comparatively weak; the capacity of market entities to utilize intellectual property is not very strong and so on. But we have confidence that with joint efforts, we will fully implement our national intellectual property strategy and successfully deal with piracy.　　

　　I hope my introduction will be helpful to the development of Zimbabwean Music and Film Industry.　　

　　Thank you! Tatenda!