Property rights protection mechanism needs improvement

Protection of property rights is crucial to encourage and stimulate the private sector, said experts, after the nation’s annual legislative session spotlighted the subject.

“Improving the property rights protection mechanism is key to supporting the private sector,” said Liu Xiangdong, a researcher at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. “There is a need to build a clean and transparent relationship between the government and the private sector to ensure property rights are not violated.”

“The private sector has contributed nearly half the country’s tax income and 90 percent of new urban employment,” Premier Li Keqiang said after the conclusion of the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress. To instill confidence in all property owners, Li said the nation will press ahead to reassure the legitimate property rights of all types of ownership.

The reduction in tax, support for financing and protection of intellectual property are also crucial in encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in the private sector, said Liu.

“IP is of huge significance to business,” said Wen Shenda, public relations manager of NetEase Yunxin, a communication service provider.

“Especially for technology companies like us doing cloud computing, our top business confidentiality is software coding. If it were not for the protection of IP, our products could have been easily duplicated and stolen.

“Take the technology of livestreaming chatrooms for example, Yunxin has registered a national patent of making online chatrooms open for an indefinite number of users at a time,” Wen said. “Only with IP being protected could Yunxin secure a large market share in this field.”