The role of intellectual property should be fully played in innovation, and the legal protection on IP rights must also be continuously strengthened, said Shen Changyu, head of the China National Intellectual Property Administration.

He remarked on Friday at the opening ceremony of the 13th China Intellectual Property Annual Conference, which was held in Beijing, with emphasis that scientific and technological innovation needs to be firmly grasped as the key to improving the level of productivity.

While applying IP rights in stimulating high-level innovation and accelerating industrial innovation, he said that IP rights should also be used for innovating development patterns and systems, in order to promote new quality productive forces.

Sun Shuo, deputy mayor of Beijing, said the capital city will promote the reform of the comprehensive management system and mechanism of intellectual property rights, constructing a demonstration city for building a strong intellectual property country.

The two-day conference, consisting of one main session and 11 breakout sessions, attracted guests from government departments, international organizations, academics and enterprises. They shared ideas about IP-related hot issues, including challenges for intellectual property rights in the era of AI opportunities and the protection of data intellectual property.