每年 4 月 26 日，政府、企业、学生、创新者和创造者齐聚一堂，庆祝世界知识产权日，并探讨知识产权在我们的生活和经济中的重要地位。今年，我们以“知识产权与青年：为更好的未来创新”为主题，认可青年人的创新精神，深入思考知识产权如何更好地支持青年创新者和创造者。
作为学生、科学家、教育工作者、企业家和公务员，我们的青少年为应对一系列全球挑战带来活力、创造力和新观点。
透明、公正和有效的知识产权保护对他们的贡献给予承认和保护。这种保护可以采取促进消费者对新兴企业信任的商标、推动创立企业和创造就业的专利、或为世界各地的读者带来新视角的版权的形式。通过大力保护这些权利，我们鼓励我们的年轻人发展和贡献他们的创新想法并让我们的世界变得更好。
中美两国人文交流历史悠久，尤其是在年轻人之间。在美国和中国，交流参与者往往在开展新业务方面起到重要作用，最终为我们两国带来更大的经济繁荣。新冠疫情并未阻止美国欢迎这种互动。自 2021 年 5 月以来，美国驻华使团签发了超过10万份学生签证。过去 10 年，在美国学习的中国学生人数增加了两倍。
在过去的几年中，中国在知识产权保护和执法领域的诸多方面都已经加速改革。尽管发生了积极的变化，美国权利人仍对改革的充分性及其有效实施感到担忧。此外，恶意商标和假冒等长期问题依然存在。而令人担忧的新情况也在显现出来，例如中国法院作出的广泛的禁诉令。最后，近期的高层政策和知识产权战略规划预示着知识产权保护将更加不透明、更加不可预测，而有利于国家经济或政治利益。中国完成所有必要的根本性变革，为中国的知识产权创造一个有效和公平的竞争环境是至关重要的。
几十年来，美国以双边的形式以及协同伙伴和盟友，一直与中国的知识产权机构和司法机构一道致力于加强知识产权保护。世界各国的权利人和消费者，包括年轻的创新者和创造者，都由此受益。这样的努力必须要继续，也必须确保中国的知识产权政策能够激励和保护创新，鼓励我们的青年，而不是让他们感到挫败。随着时间的推移，青少年将扮演塑造我们双边关系进程的角色。他们年轻时的成功、创造力和创新无疑对应对我们两国之间乃至全世界范围内的重大问题至关重要。

Every year, on April 26, governments, businesses, students, innovators, and creators come together to celebrate World IP Day and explore the centrality of intellectual property (IP) rights to our lives and economies.  This year, with the theme IP and Youth:  Innovating for a Better Future, we recognize the innovative spirit of our young people and think deeply about how IP rights can better support young innovators and creators.
Our youth and young adults bring vitality, creativity, and fresh viewpoints to bear in addressing a range of global challenges as students, scientists, educators, entrepreneurs, and public servants.
IP protection that is transparent, impartial, and effective recognizes and protects their contributions. Such protection can take the form of trademarks that promote consumer trust in young businesses, patents that drive enterprise and job creation, or copyrights that bring new perspectives to readers around the world. By strongly protecting these rights, we encourage our young people to develop and contribute their innovative ideas and improve our world.
The United States and China have a long history of people-to-people exchanges, particularly among younger people.  In both the United States and China, exchange participants have often been instrumental in launching new businesses that ultimately bring greater economic prosperity to both our countries.  COVID-19 has not stopped the United States from welcoming such interaction, demonstrated by the more than 100,000 student visas Mission China has issued since May 2021.  The number of students from China studying in the United States has tripled over the past 10 years.
Over the last several years, China has accelerated reform of many aspects of its IP protection and enforcement regimes.  Despite positive changes, U.S. rights holders continue to have concerns about the adequacy of these reforms and their effective implementation. In addition, long-standing issues like bad faith trademarks and counterfeiting persist, while worrying new developments such as broad antisuit injunctions issued by China’s courts have emerged.  Finally, recent high-level policies and IP strategy plans foreshadow IP protection that is more opaque, more unpredictable, and which favors state economic or political interests. It is critical that China complete the full range of fundamental changes that are required to create an effective and level-playing field for IP rights in China.
The United States has engaged with China’s IP agencies and its judiciary to strengthen IP for decades, both bilaterally and together with our partners and allies. Such engagement has benefited rights holders and consumers in countries around the world, including young innovators and creators.  This engagement must continue, and must ensure that China’s IP policies incentivize and protect innovation, and encourage – rather than discourage – our youth.  In time, youth and young adults will move into roles shaping the course of our bilateral relationship.  Their earlier-life successes, creativity, and innovation will no doubt be essential to managing issues of consequence for our two countries and the world at large.