During the last quarter-century, globalisation processes affected changes in the world economy in the form of intensifying competition in the international and internal markets. The result is the creation of a global marketplace that is mostly indifferent to national borders and governmental influences. This development has generated widespread interest in competitiveness. Competitiveness affects international relations, especially nowadays, given the changing position of the global leaders and the growth of new economic powers such as China. China has come a long way and has the opportunity to be a global leader in several required fields that will be the cornerstones of global growth in the next decades. Led by China, emerging economies are increasing their share in the worldwide economy and intensifying competition in nearly all sectors. It creates new threats and challenges for players in the global economy, and growing competitiveness must be efficient. The article evaluates the Chinese competitiveness in comparison with the World Trade Organization members by the Data Envelopment Analysis in the pre-in-post crisis period and considering the Fourth Industrial Revolution shifting humanity into a new phase.

This article assesses the compliance of China’s domestic laws in the area of intellectual property rights protection with the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which China obliged to accept upon its entrance into the WTO. It also discusses the implications which result from the implementation and enforcement of the intellectual property rights in China for doing business in China. The significance of intellectual property rights protection for achieving the strategic objects formulated by China’s policy-makers and China’s reputation in the world is tackled, as well. Qualitative research based on the concept of compliance showed that China’s compliance with its TRIPS obligation should be evaluated with respect to different country-specific as well as country non-specific factors. However, the experience from the historical development of the leading world inventors, such as Japan or the United Kingdom, should also be considered.