Thank you very much.

I am so honored to receive this award.  It’s amazing to be recognized as one of these outstanding individuals.

I started to pursue my judge’s career from 1979, for about 30 years, I have been involved with work of Intellectual Property Rights protection and dispute resolutions, and I have witnessed over this time an important period in the development of Intellectual Property in China.  I still remember, in 2007, when I was in the Supreme People’s Court, I met with a US chief IP counsel of a multinational corporation.  I briefed him that China had been dealing with approximately 15,000 civil IPR cases a year, of which 95% were Chinese domestic cases, and less than 5% cases were between foreign and Chinese companies.  The chief IP counsel was very surprised because he thought the majority of IP infringement cases in China should be the cases which foreign companies suing Chinese companies.  Thus he strongly recommended Chinese government should make more efforts to advertise its IP development to the outside world in order to bring more concern and understanding.

I love my work. And I have been indulging myself in the IPR protection work all the time, even after retired from the Supreme People’s Court. More than two year ago, I was retired from the Chief Judge of the IPR Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court. It gives me another chance that I can provide high quality legal services and education effect. I am proud to see that: although the modern IPR system in China started quite late, China spent three decades on the road to completing the modernization of its IPR system, whilst many Western countries achieved the same over two or three hundred years.

Thank you. Thank you so much for this award.  It means a lot to me and to my country.  Thanks to all those who helped me achieve this, especially my co-workers in the Courts and my family.

Have a great evening everyone!