IT will cost much more for those who infringe on intellectual property rights (IPR) in the near future as Shenzhen is going to roll out harsher regulations regarding IPR within the year, the Daily Sunshine reported.

The information was disclosed by an official with the Shenzhen Municipal Market and Quality Supervision Commission at a seminar held to address Shenzhen’s development of technological innovation Wednesday, which was also a national day marking the efforts of scientists and technology practitioners.

According to the official, a set of tough regulations will be released this year, the core part of which is to drastically increase the cost of IPR infringement. Currently, fines are only levied to compensate the victims, but larger fines will be imposed to punish people who commit IPR tort.

The punishments can be as tough as penalty in the IPR laws in the United Sates, said the official.

The seminar was held at the Wuzhou Guest House with over 20 scientists as well as representatives from universities, technology research institutes and technology companies in attendance to share their advice on the city’s technological development.

Founder of Shenzhen biotechnology company Direct Genomics, He Jiankui, advised the city to form a technology cluster that resembles that Silicon Valley in the United States in order to attract more innovative projects.

“Technological development in Shenzhen is still not solid enough, and we can improve our competitiveness by strengthening research in basic science,” said He. He suggested transforming research results achieved by universities and research institutes into start-up projects and corporations.

Chen Ning, a co-founder and CEO of Intellifusion, an AI technology firm, said Shenzhen should further support talents in high-tech industries. Also, he suggested that the government release more supportive policies to enhance the R&D of AI technologies.

Representatives from some government agencies disclosed some of their plans to assist the city’s technological development.

In terms of the city’s major infrastructure projects, an official from the development and reform commission said the authority is planning to build a group of buildings especially for high-end technology companies and groups with a set of supporting facilities like transport, medical centers and schools.

Shenzhen is also improving its plans to recruit high-end talents and aims to attract more talents from overseas, said a representative from the Department of Organization. (Zhang Qian)