The 21st Shanghai International Intellectual Property Forum, with the tagline "Intellectual Property Empowers the Development of New Quality Productive Forces", commenced on Dec 4 and will run for four days.

Co-hosted by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and Shanghai Municipal People's Government, the forum will bring together Chinese and international guests to discuss how IP services, high-value patent management, legal protection, and open licensing can boost new quality productive forces.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng emphasized the city's dedication to establishing a world-class IP protection environment and pledged to enhance IP's role in fostering innovation, expanding openness, and promoting development.

Gong stressed the need for high-value IP creation and the transformation of innovative achievements into new quality productive forces. He also called for advancing IP cooperation and expressed support for the upgrading of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service. Gong invited guests to contribute their insights and suggestions to further improve Shanghai's IP efforts.

Shen Changyu, head of the CNIPA, underscored IP's role in supporting innovation, calling for strengthened IP protection, accelerated commercialization of scientific achievements, and the establishment of an efficient IP management system. He praised Shanghai's success in leveraging IP to foster development and encouraged further discussions to enhance IP's role in the development of new quality productive forces.

In his video speech, Daren Tang, director-general of the WIPO, highlighted Shanghai's evolution into a global technology hub and an important IP center. He noted the city's record-high IP pledge financing and its pioneering cooperation with WIPO. Tang affirmed WIPO's commitment to the forum as a vital platform for IP dialogue and wished it success.