BEIJING — China plans to set up 20 more centers nationwide this year to offer quicker services and reduce duration and cost of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, according to the country's IPR watchdog.

The plan to establish the centers is part of China's continuous efforts to strengthen IPR protection, the National Intellectual Property Administration said earlier this week. So far, the country has established more than 60 IPR protection centers and fast IPR service centers, providing easy, efficient and low-cost assistance to market entities.

The administration sets up IPR protection centers to address difficulties in obtaining evidence and reduce processing time and costs involved in IPR disputes, while the fast IPR service centers are aimed at providing county-level industry clusters quick IPR review, verification and protection.