An international forum on Intellectual Property and Urban Innovation-Driven Development has been held in Chengdu, the capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province.

The forum, sponsored by the Chengdu municipal government, and held on Wednesday, drew nearly 300 representatives from across China, Austria and the United States.

Representatives, including government officials, judges and executives from Fortune 500 firms, compared notes on how intellectual property led urban innovation-driven development,and how multinationals boosted urban innovation-driven development, and shared thought and opinion on intellectual property protection in the era of the new economy.

Gan Shaoning, deputy commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, said the intellectual property system was an important component of the market economy.

"The system guarantees the stimulation of innovation, and the protection of intellectual property is tantamount to the protection of innovation," he said.

It was also the first time the forum was held during the Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair.

In 2015, the fair debuted in Chengdu, and in the second fair last year, transactions of technologies with intellectual property amounted to nearly 6.2 billion yuan ($898 million).