CHENGDU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Pan-Pearl River Delta Region (PPRD) held the first property rights forum here Tuesday, voicing concerns over lack of innovation and intellectual property protection to drive the region's economic growth.

    Heads of the intellectual property authorities from Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland PPRD provinces considered innovations and patents critical to sustainable economic growth in the PPRD region.

    One of the long-term goals of PPRD Cooperation is to transform the region's economy into a knowledge-related economy, said Tang Jun, a researcher at the Intellectual Property Institute of Guangdong Finance Academy.

    In PPRD, where there is better protection of intellectual property rights, there is a better economy, said Zhang Qin, vice commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office.

    Statistics show the PPRD region submitted more than 500,000 patent applications with over 300,000 approved between 1985 and 2004. The year 2004 saw more than 80,000 applications with 50,000 patented, about 15.7 percent and four percent more than the figures in 2003, both higher than the national average.

    The Mainland provinces of Pan-Pearl River Delta signed an agreement on intellectual property protection last year.

    Some PPRD provinces recently started publishing intellectual property white papers on a regular basis. Enditem