Accelerating the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade is an inherent requirement for building a new development pattern and promoting high-quality development, playing a crucial role in the promotion of economic development, expansion of domestic demand and soothing enterprises. The General Office of the State Council of China recently released a circular to accelerate the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade by putting forward 18 measures of five aspects, among which strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and stepping up the brand building of domestic and foreign trade have sparked wide attention from the industry.

Focusing on IPR protection, the measures proposed to enhance the protection of trademarks and patents owned by foreign trade enterprises and mount special actions against infringement and counterfeiting of clothing, shoes and hats, home decorations and household appliances. E-commerce platforms' liability to scrutinize qualifications and commodities of internet business operators will be clarified, and the system for handling complaints and tips will be improved to stop online infringement timely.

Revolving around the building of domestic and foreign trade brands, measures will be taken to implement actions on the promotion of trademark brand value among a thousand enterprises and a hundred cities, advance the construction of demonstration areas on quality brand promotion nationwide, support the development of regional brands, and cultivate public brands related to green and organic features, geographical indications and famous, special, premium, fresh agricultural products. The domestic and foreign trade enterprises will get supports to cultivate their own brands, foreign trade OEM enterprises will be encouraged to cooperate with domestic brand owners, and circulation and platform enterprises will be advocated to develop their own brands and enhance brand cooperation with manufacturing enterprises. The measures also encourage the development of a reverse customization mode named C2M (Customer to Manufacturer), cultivation of a batch of discount stores from brand manufacturers with Chinese characteristics and construction of incubation bases for new consumer brands to activate the vitality of brand incubation and innovation in domestic and foreign trade. Efforts will also be stepped up to promote Chinese brands overseas and time-honored brands to enter the international market. National IPR template enterprises will be further cultivated to leverage their combined effects of patents, trademarks and various types of IPRs, raising the brands' comprehensive competitiveness.

As a matter of fact, the Chinese government has been attaching great importance to the IPR work and prioritizing IPR protection and fight against infringement and counterfeiting. China's market regulatory authorities have launched Operation Iron Fist to handle cases related to people's livelihood, enhanced administrative law enforcement in key areas and regions where there are strong public desires, hot social concerns, frequent infringement and counterfeiting, and dealt with trademark infringement and patent counterfeiting cases in accordance with the law, effectively protecting the legitimate rights and interests of right holders and consumers. As to China Customs, they have carried out actions including Operation Soaring Dragon on comprehensive IPR protection, Operation Blue Internet on IPR protection of delivery channels and Operation Clean Internet on IPR protection of export transshipped goods, resolutely cracking down on import and export violations. All these measures have strongly deterred IPR infringements, violations and created a sound business environment.

This year, China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has started the promotion action among a thousand enterprises and a hundred cities to increase the value of trademark brands from enterprises and regions, accelerating the change from Chinese products to Chinese brands. A few days ago, CNIPA also identified the list of both new and verified national IPR template enterprises, improved the working mechanism on enterprise IPR capabilities by cultivating through practice and evaluating through effectiveness, guided and supported enterprises to strength core competitiveness through effective use of IPRs, advancing the high-quality development of the industry. The Ministry of Commerce of China issued the Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Brand Building in the Business Field, proposing to raise the international level of brands, encourage enterprises to implement brand internationalization strategies and file overseas registration of trademarks and patents. All these measures have effectively aided Chinese enterprises in building their brands and increasing the influence of Chinese brands at home and abroad.

In addition, the measures will also be taken to tighten the convergence of domestic and foreign trade standards, support foreign trade enterprises to expand domestic market, improve logistics convenience, develop the integrated enterprises and further promote credit insurance. All municipalities and relevant departments are required to actively implement policies and measures, move out the core obstacles hindering the integration of domestic and foreign trade, which help enterprises smoothly switch between domestic and international markets.