WIPO China: Exploring New Pathways for Resolving Foreign-related IP Disputes

On June 17, 2026, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center and the Hainan High People’s Court jointly organized the Seminar on IP Protection and Diversified Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Boao, Hainan Province.

Ms. Liu Hua, Director of the WIPO Office in China; Mr. Dai Jun, President of the Hainan High People’s Court; Ms. Yu Xiaoyu, Deputy Director General of the International Cooperation Department of the Supreme People’s Court of China; and Ms. Lang Guimei, Deputy Chief Judge of the Third Civil Division of the Supreme People’s Court of China, attended and delivered remarks at the opening ceremony. Mr. Ignacio de Castro, Director of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, delivered remarks by video. 

Ms. Liu Hua noted that, with the support of the Supreme People’s Court of China, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service has established cooperation mechanisms for the referral of foreign-related IP disputes to WIPO mediation with courts in Shanghai, Fujian, Hainan, Guangdong, Chongqing and Sichuan. To date, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service has administered more than 240 cases involving parties from 20 countries, with a settlement rate of 50 per cent, and has received positive feedback from both Chinese and foreign parties. As WIPO’s extension in China, the WIPO Office in China stands ready to continue serving as a bridge, supporting WIPO in further deepening cooperation with the Supreme People’s Court, strengthening collaboration with partner courts in the referral of foreign-related IP disputes to mediation, and providing higher-quality, more professional and more efficient mediation and arbitration services for new technologies, new industries, new business forms and new models.

In his video remarks, Mr. Ignacio de Castro stated that the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center provides neutral, specialized and efficient alternative dispute resolution services for cross-border IP disputes. He noted that WIPO’s cooperation with Chinese courts has achieved significant success, offering a new pathway for the resolution of foreign-related IP disputes and providing useful experience for other member states. The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center highly appreciates the efforts of the Hainan High People’s Court in strengthening judicial protection of IP and promoting coordination between litigation and mediation. WIPO remains committed to working closely with the Supreme People’s Court to further advance court-referred mediation, capacity building and the promotion of WIPO ADR services.

Mr. Dai Jun noted that, since the establishment of the cooperation mechanism between the Hainan High People’s Court and the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service, the Court has continued to deepen cooperation, guided by the strategic positioning of the Hainan Free Trade Port as a high-level platform for opening up, achieving mutually beneficial results. He expressed the hope that both sides would take the seminar as a new starting point to further improve the working mechanism, contribute to creating a first-class law-based business environment, continuously enhance the diversified dispute resolution system for IP disputes, and make greater contributions of legal expertise and strength to building Hainan into a preferred destination for international IP dispute resolution and advancing the development of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics.

Ms. Yu Xiaoyu stated that the Supreme People’s Court of China and WIPO have maintained close exchanges and cooperation over the years. The seminar represents a concrete step in implementing long-standing cooperation with WIPO, and an important platform for deepening practical cooperation with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center and jointly exploring future development pathways. She noted that the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service has successfully mediated a number of cases, playing a positive role in the substantive resolution of foreign-related IP disputes and advancing efforts to address disputes at their source. The Supreme People’s Court stands ready to further deepen judicial exchanges and cooperation with WIPO and jointly promote a fairer and more reasonable global IP governance system.

Ms. Lang Guimei stated that high people’s courts in six provinces and direct-administered municipalities in China have successively signed agreements with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center to carry out litigation-mediation coordination. Chinese courts are working with WIPO to contribute Chinese experience to the development of a fairer and more reasonable global IP governance system. She emphasized that IP adjudication should better play its role in guiding, regulating and safeguarding innovation, and should engage more openly in the creation, utilization and protection of IP rights, so as to provide strong judicial services and safeguards for accelerating the building of China into an IP powerhouse and supporting high-quality economic and social development.

Mr. Lyu Guoqiang, Head of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service, introduced the background information, features and achievements of the Shanghai Service’s cooperation with Chinese courts in the referral of foreign-related IP disputes to WIPO mediation since its establishment in 2019, and put forward suggestions for future cooperation.

Representatives from the high people’s courts of Shanghai, Fujian, Hainan, Guangdong, Chongqing and Sichuan also shared information on their respective cooperation with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service.

Under the theme of “IP Protection and the Development of Diversified Dispute Resolution Mechanisms,” the seminar focused on practical cooperation and explored pathways for diversified dispute resolution of foreign-related IP disputes under the IP ADR collaboration framework with WIPO. Participants also exchanged views on topics including IP protection in artificial intelligence and in the seed industry, shared practical experience and built consensus on future cooperation. Representatives from courts in Beijing, Zhejiang and other provinces, as well as experts and scholars from China University of Political Science and Law, University of Science and Technology Beijing, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and City University of Hong Kong, were invited to attend the seminar.