China's top intellectual property watchdog said in Beijing Monday that patent cooperation between China and Europe should be aimed at stimulating innovative activities and enhancing bilateral economic and trade relations.

At a symposium organized here to mark the 20th anniversary of cooperation between China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO), Tian Lipu, SIPO commissioner, said the two offices have cultivated a good, effective exchange and cooperative relationship in the past two decades.

The future cooperation between the two offices might influence the world patent mechanism, Tian said.

With an increasingly globalized economy, more and more European firms applied for patents in China. European firms were granted 9,473 patents in 2004.

The number was 865 in 1995 and only three in 1985.

Tian also inspired Chinese companies to learn more about the European patent system and apply for more European patents.

On Monday morning, the SIPO signed a cooperative agreement with the EPO, including future cooperation in personnel exchange and training, exchange of patent data, joint programs toward future cooperation with Southeast Asian nations, and intellectual property symposia geared to China-based European firms.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2005)