The first China International Import Expo is making a concerted effort to ensure the protection of intellectual property rights and deal with commercial disputes during the event.

The event organizer, the China International Import Expo Bureau, has set up a center for IPR protection, where professionals from relevant departments have been invited to offer on-site consultation and services to participants.

Wang Bingnan, vice-minister of commerce, said the expo attaches great importance to IPR protection because it is a platform for the release of new technologies and products, and it aims to create a fair trading environment and effectively safeguard the interests of all parties.

According to the bureau, specific measures include a work plan for IPR protection during the expo, optimizing regulations on the exhibits and strengthening inspection. Local government departments have also formulated guidelines related to the issue and pushed forward measures to crack down on violations.

The move symbolizes China's decadeslong effort to improve IPR protection. The government has made the task a priority and says the measures it has taken have proved effective.

The country ranked 17th in terms of the "most innovative economies" in the annual Global Innovation Index released in July by the World Intellectual Property Organization and Cornell University in the United States. Last year, China moved up to second place in terms of international patent applications, with about 51,000 applications submitted.

According to the Peterson Institute of International Economics in Washington, China's payments of licensing fees and royalties for the use of foreign technology recorded a fourfold increase in the past decade, reaching $28.6 billion last year, ranking fourth in the world.

China ranks second globally in the scale of licensing fees paid for technology used within its borders, second only to the US.

Shen Changyu, head of the State Intellectual Property Office, said the country will adopt stricter IPR protection regulations and continue to firmly uphold international rules on IPR.

"IPR protection is key to innovation-driven development and international trade, which also plays an indispensable role in the country's opening-up," Shen said at the 2018 China Patent Annual Conference in Beijing.

He said the country will enhance international cooperation in IPR and promote the building of open, inclusive, balanced and effective international IPR rules.

Jin Qin, director of the Office of Technology Transfer at Tsinghua University, said the government should place more emphasis on improving IPR protection, which can optimize the business environment and thereby facilitate innovation.

Jin made the comments at the launch ceremony of the Nation Intellectual Property Protection Action Plan, which aims to improve IPR and give impetus to innovative activities.