Large but not strong, comprehensive but not high quality - that is the current situation of China's overall industrial development, said Wu Handong, professor at Guangdong ZhongCe Intellectual Property Research Institute, during a recent intellectual property forum.

Under the economic framework of the new normal, a phrase introduced by President Xi Jinping to describe slower but more sustainable economic growth, "IP strategies are the key to the shift from a resource-driven to an innovation-driven economy, which China should effectively implement to promote the development of both its economy and industry", Wu added.

The first Pearl River Forum on Intellectual Property, which was held on July 31 in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, attracted more than 300 participants from nationwide government agencies, companies, colleges, research institutions and IP agencies.

More than 20 Chinese and overseas experts, along with industry insiders, delivered keynote speeches covering issues ranging from regional cooperation to capital operation of IP on the basis of supply-side reform.

Lin Ji, deputy secretary-general of the Guangdong provincial government, said at the forum that the province will increase IP cooperation and exchanges with countries along the route of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and deepen regional cooperation in the Pan-Pearl River Delta region.

IP officials from Guangdong and Sichuan provinces signed a cooperation framework agreement and plan to carry out in-depth collaboration in seven fields including innovation and reforms of IP systems.

In addition, a list of the top 100 Chinese companies in patent and technological innovation capacity was launched during the event. It established an index system to evaluate four main aspects of corporate IP capabilities: quantity, quality, protection and application of patents.

Huawei ranked first in terms of comprehensive capacity, followed by State Grid and ZTE.

The list also compared companies in their own industries. Tencent, for example, topped the internet industry list, with nearly 13,000 invention patent applications filed between 2010 and 2015. Guangdong-based TCL Corp ranked first on the household appliances list.

Yue Yunfan contributed to this story.

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