“Your high technologies are welcome in the Chinese market,” Premier Li Keqiang said, sending invitations to Dutch entrepreneurs after hearing their introduction of achievements while visiting a high-tech exhibition at The Hague Municipal Museum, with his Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, on Oct 16.
The exhibition displayed some products and cutting-edge projects of the Netherlands, including an integrated equipment system for cancer treatment, high-precision medical devices, green agricultural products, safe self-driving technologies and repair nanotechnologies for aircraft engines.
The Netherlands ranks second on the 2018 list of the Global Innovation Index released by the World Intellectual Property Organization of the United Nations.
After the exhibition, a roundtable meeting on bilateral cooperation in trade and high technologies was held among Premier Li, the Dutch prime minister, and eight chiefs of international corporations based in the Netherlands.
“Your concerns mainly focus on three aspects,” the Premier summarized after listening to each entrepreneur’s speech. “First, you hope China will further open up and lower the threshold; second, you want cooperation in innovation; and third, more efforts to protect intellectual property rights.”
The Chinese government has shown its determination and confidence in expanding opening-up, and China will take more measures to facilitate market access, Premier Li said.
“I’m here to assure you that enterprises registered in China, no matter Chinese or foreign invested, are equally treated,” Premier Li said, adding that China will continue to be a promised land for foreign capital.
The Chinese economy is undergoing a transformation and upgrading process toward high-quality development, and China welcomes Dutch enterprises, regardless of their size, to cooperate with their Chinese counterparts, the Premier said.
“Innovation should not just be creations in labs, but be commercialized in the market,” he said. “China is a large market, with 1.4 billion population, so I believe Dutch companies would find their potential in commercializing innovations, and I hope Chinese enterprises will hold a more open attitude to working with the Dutch side in innovation.”
Speaking of intellectual property rights, the Premier expressed his resolution to protect IPR, saying innovation cooperation will be meaningless without IPR protection. China will make more efforts to protect IPR to observe international rules, attract foreign capital, as well as transform the economy.
“It’s forbidden in China to transfer IPR by force. Transactions must be based on enterprises’ will,” the Premier said. Last year, the IPR transfer fees Chinese enterprises paid ranked second in the world, demonstrating its progress in IPR protection. IPR violations are definitely forbidden in China. And China will strictly follow its laws and international rules to crack down on any infringement and impose harsh penalties on violators.
He made the commitment that the Chinese government will spare no effort to protect IPR and create a favorable environment for innovation cooperation.
After the meeting, Premier Li and Rutte witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements worth about $10 billion in total between enterprises from the two sides.
