China hopes that Australia will view normal maritime research objectively and refrain from making groundless speculations on it, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.
Speaking at a regular press briefing in Beijing, Guo Jiakun, the spokesman, stressed that China has been carrying out normal maritime activities in accordance with international law when commenting on reports that a Chinese research vessel was spotted making its way through southern Australian waters.
"China has been carrying out normal maritime activities in the relevant waters in accordance with international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We hope the Australian side can view this in a correct way and refrain from being paranoiac and making groundless speculations," Guo said.
China urges Australia to avoid groundless speculation on normal maritime research
The High-level Forum on China's IP Protection 2025 opened in Beijing on Monday, bringing together experts and industry leaders to discuss intellectual property governance amid AI-driven innovation.
Themed "Opportunity and Challenge: Intellectual Property Governance in the Context of Artificial Intelligence," the two-day event brings together leading voices from China and abroad to explore strategies for IP governance in an era of rapid technological advancement.
According to a report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), China currently holds the largest number of artificial intelligence patents in the world, accounting for 61 percent of the global total. This provides strong support for the development of China's AI industry.
"Digital tech patent applications have grown 172 percent faster on average than other technological fields in the past five years. And AI-related application growth was 700 percent faster. Among top patent owners in the field of generative AI, more than half of top ten are from China. China's stakeholders are significant players of IP in the generative AI field," said Kenichiro Natsume, Assistant Director General of WIPO.
Beijing hosts 2025 High-Level Forum to advance global IP governance
