HONG KONG, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong will roll out a slew of measures including tax relief to shore up the region's intellectual property trade, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Paul Chan said Sunday.
The HKSAR government is working on policy moves to lower the tax rate on eligible patent-related profits from 16.5 percent to 5 percent, establish a Technology & Innovation Support Center for the World Intellectual Property Organization and update Hong Kong's Copyright Ordinance to accommodate the latest developments of artificial intelligence, Chan said in his blog.
"Efforts to foster intellectual property management, commodification and trade will allow Hong Kong to flourish in the high value-added sectors of the innovation and technology industry chain," said Chan.
He said intellectual property protection is one of the main reasons for innovation and technology firms to set up businesses in Hong Kong. The Intellectual Property Department of the HKSAR government has granted over 10,000 patents annually from 2021 to 2023, logging marked increase from the annual average of the preceding decade.
The HKSAR government will also advance cooperation with cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area regarding intellectual property, Chan said. ■
