China’s stance on free trade-related intellectual property: a view in the context of the China-Japan-Korea FTA negotiations

This article studies the stance of China on free trade-related intellectual property in the context of the China-Japan-Korea (CJK) free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations. It analyses the intellectual property provisions in FTAs and discusses the consistent stance of China on intellectual property in FTAs by reviewing the intellectual property provisions under existing FTAs involving China. The article then examines into major factors that influence China’s stance on intellectual property: its stage of economic development, innovation capacity and level of intellectual property enforcement; and explores China’s stance on intellectual property from the perspective of the CJK FTA negotiations and beyond. It finds that though China expressly stands against the TRIPS-plus standards for intellectual property enforcement, its attitude towards intellectual property issues in FTA negotiations is fairly flexible. It further argues that with intellectual property becoming increasingly important for its innovation-driven economy and with higher standards of intellectual property enforcement being incorporated in such influential FTA as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), China’s stance on intellectual property in future FTA negotiations will eventually change.