Innovation and Institutional Support for Intellectual Property Rights: 2024 Nanhu Forum

2024-05-22

The 2024 IPRs Nanhu Forum was held from April 20th to 21th in Changsha,also known as Star City, the capital city of Hunan Province in central China. With professional suggestions and recommendations for IPRs, over 600 delegates gathered and attended this Forum, all of whom are gurus, elites and legal practitioners from domestic and overseas in the academia and industry of intellectual property. Meanwhile, this Forum also attracted more than 800,000 online participants through live streaming.


The 2024 IPRs Nanhu Forum was hosted by Central South University (CSU) and Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL), with the Center for Studies of Intellectual Property Rights (CSIPRs), the School of Intellectual Property Rights, the CSU Law School, and the ZUEL Innovation Base on Studies of IPRs for Scientific and Technological Revolution in the New Era as the co-organizers.

Wang Binying, the Deputy Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), sent a sincere written address to the Forum. The Forum opened with speeches respectively from Hou Zhenfa, Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Committee in ZUEL, Li Jiancheng, the President and Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee in CSU, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Qian Junjun, Director General and Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of  the Administration for Market Regulation of Hunan Province, and Director General of Intellectual Property Administration of Hunan Province, Yu Cike, Executive Vice President of Copyright Society of China (CSC), and Li Mingde, Executive Vice President of Intellectual Property Law Association of China Law Society (CLS). The opening ceremony was presided by Wu Handong, Senior Professor of Wenlan School of Business (an honorary title recognized and conferred by ZUEL), Director of the Academic Committee of ZUEL, and Honorary Director of CSIPRs.

Hou Zhenfa pointed out in his speech that protecting of intellectual property is protecting of innovation, which aim to boost the development of the new quality productive forces. On the new journey to an IPRs-oriented country, domestic law must play its guiding, regulating, and safeguarding role, and the protection of IPRs should be further strengthened in core technologies, key areas, and emerging industries. It is hoped that this forum will serve as an opportunity to enhance communication and mutual inspiration and provide new ideas and insights for the protection of IPRs under the rule of law. ZUEL will also continue to leverage the advantages of intellectual property disciplines and pool resources, so as to better help foster China’s new development model and promote high-quality development. ZUEL hopes to make greater contributions to establish China as an IPRs-oriented country.


Wu Handong, Senior Professor of Wenlan, Director of the Academic Committee of ZUEL, Honorary Director of the CSIPRs, presided over the opening ceremony.

Deng Yuhua delivered a speech written by Wang Bingying, Deputy Director General of WIPO on the spot.

Keynote speeches were delivered by Du Weike, Vice President of Intellectual Property Court of Supreme People’s Court of China, Dev Gangjee, Director of the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre Ma Yide, Wenlan Distinguished Professor ofZUEL, Xie Xiaoyong, Vice President and Secretary General of the China Intellectual Property Society. Xu Yan, Vice President of Tencent Group, Joseph Straus, former Director of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Germany. Huang Yuye, Dean of the Intellectual Property Academy of ZUEL, and He Lianhong, Vice Dean of the School of Law and Executive Vice Dean of the Institute of Intellectual Property of CSU, presided over the keynote speeches.    

Huang Yuye, Dean of the Intellectual Property Academy of ZUEL, and He Lianhong, Vice Dean of the School of Law of CSU delivered the keynote speeches.

In addition to the main forum, six sub-forums featured with respective topics were also held, which provided opportunities for in-depth discussions and academic exchanges.

Following the delivery of reports by representatives from each sub-forum, the closing ceremony was presided on morning of April 21st. At the ceremony, winners of the Xin Ye Prize (for encouraging and promoting new talents in the field of IP) for the 2024 IPRs Nanhu Forum were announced and awarded.

The forum representatives delivered speeches.

Professor Hu Kaizhong from CSIPRs of ZUEL, moderated the Q&Asession.

Zhan Ying, Deputy Director of CSIPRs of ZUEL, presided over the forum’s closing ceremony.

Cao Xinming, Professor of CSIPRs of ZUEL, introduced the review process of Xin Ye Prize in 2024 and announced the winners.

Awards were presented to the winners of the Xin Ye Prize.

Nanhu Forum has been successfully held for twenty sessions, establishing itself as an influential event for researchers and practitioners in IPRs in China.

The forum was also attended by heads of other departments of ZUEL, including the Office of the CPC ZUEL Committee and School Affairs, the Department of Science and Social Science Research, International Exchange Office•Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan affairs Office.



Writer: Zhuo Zhangpeng  Jianfei 

Photographer: Peng Jia