China's top court vows to step up IPR protection

China's top court pledged on Thursday to increase efforts to tackle intellectual property rights infringements, after the central government unveiled guidelines on IPR protection.

"Judicial protection of IPR must be strengthened, including handling of disputes in innovative ways," said Tao Kaiyuan, vice-president in charge of IPR case hearings for the Supreme People's Court.

She made the remarks during a news conference on IPR protection organized by the State Council Information Office.

China's central government issued guidelines on Tuesday aimed at improving trials involving IPR cases, saying that higher efficiency, stronger IPR protection and better judicial credibility should be key considerations.

Tao said on Thursday the top court has improved IPR protection by unifying standards related to court rulings and providing more training for judges.

"Having high-quality case hearings is the best response when we are questioned on IPR protection," she said.

Between 2013 and 2017, Chinese courts filed 813,564 IPR cases, and 781,257 were concluded, according to the Supreme People's Court.