Last year, Kunming exported 170 million U.S. dollars worth of flowers to more than 40 countries and regions. Not long ago, however, it was not easy for Chinese growers to explore international markets.

According to Yang Yuyong, chairman of Kunming Yang’s Rose Horticulture Company, the European, American, Japanese and other markets have long had their own plant patent protection laws Flowers sold on the international market must be legally grown, and patent royalties must be paid. Thus, in the past, most Chinese flower growers chose to focus on varieties that had been eliminated abroad. The costs were low, but the products could not meet export requirements.

In recent years, however, Yunnan province issued a series of policies to encourage innovation and strengthen the creation, protection and application of intellectual property rights(IPR) for its flower industry. In 2009, the province promulgated “Regulations on the Development of the Flower Industry in Yunnan” to promote the development of new varieties.

 “Independent research and development of new varieties requires a lot of manpower and financial resources, and the government has intensified support in recent years,” said Yang Yuyong. He added that the government now exempts enterprises from income tax fees and encourages them to develop new varieties.

To date, Yunnan province has cumulatively cultivated 560 new flower varieties and registered more than 100 innovative technologies and patents associated with the industry.

When new varieties are developed, flower growers still need to be persuaded to grow them. If royalties must be paid in advance, according to international practice, most flower growers will be unwilling to grow patented varieties due to high costs and risks.

In 2006, to address this problem, the Kunming International Flower Auction Trading Centre (KIFATC) introduced a tripartite cooperation model. Under this framework, agreements were signed among breeding companies, flower growers and auction markets so that growers do not have to pay royalties before growing patented varieties. Instead, the royalties are deducted when the flowers are sold at auction.

By the end of 2017, according to the statistics provided by KIFATC, 3,781 flower growers had turned to patented rose varieties. This has led to acreage under cultivation increasing to more than 220 hectares, involving 98 patented varieties, such as Schirus and Deruytery. KIFATC collected patent royalties of 8.47 million yuan for Yang’s Rose, Yunxiu Flowers and other domestic breeders last year.

 “I used to pay patent royalties for foreign flower varieties. Today our independently developed flowers sell well on international markets,” said Yang Yuyong. Meilland, a French company that collected royalties from his company in the past, has instead acted as a sales agenct for two of the company’s Hydrangea varieties in Europe starting in 2017. (Xinhua)