Top officials yesterday called on Western countries to be patient and allow China more time to develop a mature system for protecting intellectual property rights (IPR).

"In merely 20-odd years it is impossible for China to establish IPR protection awareness similar to that of Western countries," Yin Xintian, spokesman with the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), said at a press conference.

"As the country's economy expands, so does the production scale of each product," Yin said.