Staff promote intellectual property rights at a sock market in the city of Zhuji, East China's Zhejiang province, on April 26, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's Ministry of Commerce on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring equal intellectual property rights (IPR) protection for domestic and foreign investors.

In this regard, the ministry has effectively implemented policies to improve the business environment for foreign investors, while stepping up its crackdown on infringements of foreign investors' IPR, said ministry official Yu Ning at a press conference.

Efforts have also been made to ensure timely responses to foreign investors' IPR-related needs and concerns, Yu said.

The ministry has worked to deepen international exchanges on IPR protection, Yu noted, adding that bilateral exchange mechanisms with economies including the European Union, Russia and Canada have been fully utilized.

While advancing negotiations on IPR rules under free trade agreements, the ministry has worked with its foreign counterparts to strengthen IPR rule-making in emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, and encouraged free trade pilot zones nationwide to explore more effective approaches to IPR protection, the official said.

According to a work report released at the press conference, China has placed greater emphasis on combating IPR infringement and counterfeiting over the past five years, with more effective mechanisms and stricter law enforcement.

Thanks to increasingly robust IPR protection, China's innovation capabilities have continued to improve, with the country entering the top 10 for the first time in the World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index 2025.