On the closing ceremony for the second project on the protection of intellectual property between China and EU (IPR2), officials from Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU), China' Ministry of Commerce, European Commission (EC) and European Patent Office (EPO) affirmed the remarkable results achieved by EU and China on IPR protection and expected to continue the cooperation in this regard.

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to intellectual property. China and EU have a common goal in IPR protection. Long-term cooperation will help improving and enhancing the China-EU economic and trade relations which have become important components of China-EU cooperation," said Ambassador Song Ze, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU.

"EU and China have realized that strengthening IPR protection and improving China's IPR law enforcement environment are critical in promoting economic growth and developing EU-China economic and trade as well as investment relations," said Jean Luc Demarty, Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission.Raimund Lutz, EPO Vice President for Legal and International Affairs, highly appraised the successful completion of the IPR2 project. He viewed it as a milestone in EU-China cooperation and believed that healthy relations between China and Europe will continue to play a decisive role in the successful development of the IP protection system at global level.

With a joint funding from the EU and the Chinese governments, IPR2 began in 2007 and will conclude in September 2011. It is aimed to establish a reliable, efficient and accessible Chinese IP protection system and offer systematic training, covering European IPR legal environment, European IPR law enforcement mechanism, industrial property, enterprises intellectual property and valuation of intangible assets, to IPR holders, IPR protection legislators and law enforcement officials. During the past four years since its implementation, IPR2 has offered systematic training to over 1,000 Chinese trainees.

(Source:IPR in China)