This Day, That Year: Jan 1

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of New China's founding.

On Jan 1, 1994, China joined the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

As its doors have opened to rising international trade, the country has placed greater importance on intellectual property rights.

An item from China Daily on Jan 9, 1997, showed authorities in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, destroying pirated video tapes and compact discs as part of a nationwide campaign to protect intellectual property rights.

The country joined the World Intellectual Property Office in 1980, and the country's first patent law took effect on April 1, 1985.

China has amended the patent law three times - in 1992, 2000 and 2009.

Patent awards are trending sharply upward, with a rapid transition from low to high technology, and China has been the world leader in patent applications for seven consecutive years, according to the State Intellectual Property Office.

As of the end of last year, Chinese people held about 1.36 million patents for inventions, the office said.

The nation's growing participation in global innovation has been marked by its surging international collaboration with a wide variety of partners.

China paid about $28.6 billion to overseas IP holders last year, after seeing an average annual rise of 17 percent in related expenses since 2001.

Last year, the country established a comprehensive strategic partnership with the European Patent Office, and signed 52 bilateral and multilateral agreements.

To strengthen protection of intellectual property rights, authorities are restructuring the IP office under the State Institutional Reform Plan of the State Council, China's Cabinet, which was released last year.

The country will continue to revise its policies and regulations on the protection of intellectual property and implement stricter enforcement measures to further boost innovation and create a first-class business environment for both domestic and foreign companies.