Two articles published by the Guardian insinuated that a Chinese company “stole” Scottish technology in the process of developing the Hailong 1 wave-power generating device (Mysterious factory break-in raises suspicions about Chinese visit, 10 October; Does China deserve a reputation as the land of copycats? 15 October). However, these reports are not grounded in facts.

Upon seeing the above-mentioned reports, we immediately sent an inquiry to the relevant company, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). CSIC replied that the Hailong 1 wave-power generating device is based on independent research and development by CSIC. The Chinese company has a patent on the invention and application of this device is in accordance with all international conventions on intellectual property rights (IPR) as well as Chinese laws and regulations. In the designing and building process, the Chinese company had never had discussion with any British entity with regard to the relevant technology, nor purchased any reference material not open to the public or employed any personnel associated with the Scottish company, Pelamis Wave Power.

Hailong 1 has been designed to suit China’s marine environment conditions. There are huge differences between Hailong 1 and the Pelamis version in terms of design, appearance and structure of the joint.

China attaches great important to the protection of intellectual property rights and the World Intellectual Property Organization has established an office in China.

Zeng Rong

Spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in the UK

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