Sino-U.S Seminar on Legal Exchange in 2012 was held in Harbin, Beijing and Guiyang from August 27 to 31. The Seminar was co-hosted by Ministry of Commerce of P.R.C., Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, the People’s Government of Heilongjiang Province, the People’s Government of Guizhou Province, and the U.S. Department of Commerce and the theme of the Seminar was Laws and Practice of American Intellectual Property Rights and E-commerce. Mr. Chong Quan, International Trade Representative of MOFCOM, Mr, Hu Keming, party member of Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, and Mr. Cameron F. Kerry, the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Commerce, attended and addressed the Seminar. Mr. Sun Yao, Vice Governor of Heilongjiang Province, and Mr. Meng Qiliang, Vice Governor of Guizhou Province attended and addressed the Seminar respectively in Harbin and Guiyang.

Chong Quan pointed out that Chinese government attaches great importance to technological innovation and the role technology has played in economic development. IPR has been raised as a national strategy, and Chinese government would put forward its goal of becoming an innovation-oriented country in 2020. China’s R & D investment in 2011 reached 861 billion yuan, with an increase of 21.9%, accounting for 1.83% of GDP and ranking third in the world; research output grow rapidly, and the number of citations rose to seventh in the world; invention patents totaled 172,000, with an increase of 27.4% over the previous year, ranking third in the world. In regards to innovative development and intellectual property protection, China and the United States share common goals and interests.

Chong Quan said that American intellectual property system has more than 200 years of history, while the establishment and improvement of China'sintellectual property system has just gone through 30 years. Therefore, it is inevitable that there are some differences in criteria for intellectual property protection between the two countries. With the development of economic globalization and information technology, intellectual property protection is faced with new challenges. China is willing to strengthen information sharing with the U.S., to expand the areas and depth of cooperation, to seek common ground while reserving differences, and to work jointly for a solution on problems of intellectual property protection . At the same time, relevant departments of China and the United States should regard agreement on Sino-US intellectual property cooperation framework signed last year in the 22nd session of the JCCT as a turning point to seek close cooperation and common development.

Chong Quan stressed that e-commerce, as a new business mode , has very broad prospects and also brings new challenges to traditional legal control which need countries to exchange and cooperation, and jointly explore the solutions as well as each country to combine with its actual situation, use comprehensively rules, standards and technical means to solve their own problems creatively. In recent years, the rapid development of China's e-commerce has become an important economic growth point. Chinese government has also established a series of policies and measures to encourage and promote the development of e-commerce. E-commerce is a new in China, and MOFCOM hope that China could learn from the experiences and practices of the United States through the exchange activities.

Mr. Hu Keming said that China and the United States are the world's largest developing and developed countries. In recent years, the two countries have learned from each other and exchanged in various fields. The legal exchange in business is an important part for the two countries to understand each other's legal system and promote stable and healthy development of economic and trade relations. In the past 30 years, seventeen sessions of exchanges of laws between China and the U.S. has been hold successfully, which is a witness of the process of the Legalization of laws in China and valuable experience provided for the formation of the legal system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and an important role played in the construction and development of Sino-US economic and trade relations as well as political relations.

Mr. Kerry said that the theme of this legal exchange relates to innovative and knowledge-based economy, and is new and far-reaching. China and the U.S. share the same goals when it comes to intellectual property protection and the fighting against counterfeit and shoddy goods. China and the U.S. should strengthen cooperation and exchanges in the protection of intellectual property rights and the development of e-commerce. As an important platform, China-U.S. exchange of laws would be conducive to the two countries to promote mutual understanding and the healthy development of bilateral relations.

A Doctor and a lawyer from Office of the Administrator for Policy and External Affairs of USPTO, and Mr. Chuck Harwood, Deputy Director of U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection made presentations on America Invents Act, Civil and Criminal Measures on IPR and Protection of American Consumers' Rights and Interests in Digital Age. Chinese experts commented on the presentations from the perspective of comparative law, and Chinese representatives made a warm and depth discussion on the issues with the U.S.

Representatives from China’s relevant department of local government, enterprises, law firms, colleges and research institutions attended the Seminar.

Sino-US legal exchanges in business is based on the requirements of the Agreement of China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade 1984 and Statement on Sino-US Cooperation of Business and Laws 1994. The ministerial-level bilateral exchange of laws is to be held alternately by the two countries and has so far has been held for seventeen times.