Chinese leaders talk a lot about developing an innovation economy, but Tang Shanxin, an expert on intellectual property policy, believes that won’t happen unless the country develops and enforces stronger laws that really protect innovation.

“We need this kind of culture [of innovation],” he told a recent forum in Guangzhou on how China should transform its economy. “If we do not upgrade our manufacturing, we will always be a step behind our competitors in the international arena.”

Tang, the deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Intellectual Property Office, said China’s focus on low-cost manufacturing made the country wealthier and raised its GDP remarkably over the last 30 years….

But China still has a long way to go, judging by some other stories I heard recently at the conference where Tang spoke, the Pearl River Delta Forum on Innovation and Intellectual Property. It was sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office.