By Xinhua
Geneva : China and the US have held consultations here on issues involving the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) within the framework of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute settlement system , Chinese mission to the trade body said Saturday.
During the two-day meeting which ended Friday, China defended itself against charges of piracy and said it had always attached great importance to the protection of intellectual property rights. The US had earlier complained to the WTO about copyright piracy in China.
China recalled that Article 1.1 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs Agreement) provides in its very beginning that WTO members "shall be free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of the TRIPs Agreement within their own legal system and practice".
With regard to certain Chinese measures challenged by the US, China said that it "firmly believes such measures are fully consistent with the TRIPs Agreement and should bear no blame".
"China strongly opposes any attempt by any other WTO member to impose additional obligations beyond the TRIPs Agreement through inappropriate application of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, and believes that the resultant impact would by no means be accepted by other developing members", it said.
The Chinese mission to the WTO regrettably noted that the U.S. had failed to correctly understand China's legal system and basic concepts concerning IPR protection. On the other hand, the US, having spent a long time preparing a lengthy list of questions, left China only one week to respond to them, the Chinese mission said.
It also reiterated that China's IPR protection efforts are not only aimed at developing its own economy, but is also part of such efforts by the international community as a whole, hence playing a positive role in enhancing global IPR protection.