2018 High Level Conference on Intellectual Property for Countries along the Belt and Road was held on August 28, 2018 in Beijing. State Councilor Wang Yong attended the opening ceremony, read congratulations of President Xi Jinping to the conference and delivered a speech.

Wang Yong remarked that in the five years since President Xi proposed the Belt and Road initiative, countries and areas along the Belt and Road deepened mutual trust and built consensus in the IP field, established and improved normalized IP cooperative mechanism, actively developed practical cooperation in aspects of IP laws and policies, protection, examination and talent cultivation, and made fruitful achievements.

Wang Yong expressed his hope for countries and areas along the Belt and Road to carry out wider, tighter and more practical IP cooperation, give better play to the supporting role of IP system for stimulating innovation, strengthen IP protection and application, and accelerate the formation of the new pattern of innovative development; to improve IP laws and regulations, raise the quality and efficiency of IP examination, and jointly build an open, transparent, fair and efficient environment for IP protection; to actively explore into IP management modes in the digital age, and further promote the spread and application of innovation achievements; and to jointly facilitate the construction of normalized cooperative mechanism, build the new dimension of IP regional cooperation, and make greater contribution to the innovative development and economic prosperity of the Belt and Road area.