Wen: We are firm on IPR protection

Premier Wen Jiabao has reiterated the country's determination to improve the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and urged for more time to deal with copyright piracy.

"China's IPR protection efforts will carry the full force of steel, and will definitely not be as soft as bean curd," Wen said on Tuesday during an interview with Reuters and a small group of foreign media on the eve of his three-nation European visit.

He also talked about issues ranging from China's strong economic growth to renminbi revaluation.

Wen said it is only in recent years that China has given priority to the protection of IPRs, and needs more time to deal with copyright piracy as it is a developing country something the rest of the world should understand Wen said.

He listed the measures the government has taken to protect IPRs, including the setting up of a national leading group for IPR protection and revision of a number of laws and regulations. Of them, the most important are: the Patent Law, the Copyright Law and the Trademark Law.

Wen said that anti-piracy campaigns would continue.

"We have launched special nationwide operations against IPR infringement activities, and 50 centres have been set up across China for handling IPR violation complaints to step up the fight against copyright infringement and piracy," he said.

On the economy, Wen voiced confidence that China would continue to enjoy strong economic growth despite energy constraints and environmental woes.

Growth accelerated to 11.3 per cent in the first half of the year, the fastest clip in more than a decade, prompting the government to tighten credit and curb investment to reduce the risk of overheating.

Asked whether China could engineer a soft landing, Wen said the commitment to economic restructuring and changing the pattern of economic growth would make Chinese conserve resources and be more environmentally friendly.

"This will put China on a path of achieving people-oriented, comprehensive, co-ordinated and sustainable development. So we are in a position to ensure continued and fairly fast growth of China's economy for a considerable period of time to come," Wen said.

"We have full confidence in our ability to do so."

Moreover, China's 1.3 billion-strong population meant it had a huge potential market.

"Expanding domestic demand is a basic policy guiding China's economic development," Wen said.

On currency revaluation, he said the country plans no "surprise adjustment" in the yuan's exchange rate.

"The floating of the renminbi exchange rate will be mainly determined by market supply and demand and its flexibility will be increased gradually," Wen said.

The yuan has risen by about 2 per cent against the US dollar since July 21, 2005, when Beijing revalued the currency by 2.1 per cent and revised its trading system to link the yuan's value to a basket of major currencies instead of just the greenback.

On political reform, the premier said direct elections for higher levels of office must come gradually and only after lower levels can manage themselves.

"China is a large country with a vast population, a weak economic foundation and unbalanced development in different regions," Wen said.

"The conditions are not yet ripe for conducting direct elections for the higher levels of government," Wen said.

"Democracy and direct elections, in particular, should develop in an orderly way in tune with the particular conditions of a country.

On the nuclear issue, Wen called for committed diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff on both the Korean Peninsula and Iran.

"Our goal is to bring about a peaceful resolution to these issues. But imposing sanctions will not necessarily get us there, and may even prove counter-productive," he said.

Wen urged the parties involved to be cautious about moving towards sanctions.

Source: China Daily