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China's top political advisory body will open its annual session later on today.
This year's session will last six and a half days. Before 2020, the sessions typically lasted for roughly 10 days.
Discussions on the draft outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the long-range objectives through the year 2035 will be high on the agenda at this year's session.
The political advisors will also sit in on the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress as non-voting participants, hearing and discussing reports including a government work report.
Foreign diplomatic envoys to China will be invited to observe the opening and closing meetings of the session.
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson says China is ready to work with other countries to strengthen scientific cooperation and participate in global intellectual property rights governance.
Wang Wenbin made the remarks in response to the latest report on intellectual property, which says China remains the top user of the Patent Cooperation Treaty with nearly 70,000 applications.
"No country can become an independent innovation center or enjoy fruits of innovation alone; innovation should benefit the world rather than being encaved. China stands ready to work with other countries to strengthen scientific innovation and cooperation, participate in global IPR governance, and contribute more to the balanced, inclusive and sustainable development of global IPRs."
Official data shows China granted 530,000 invention patents in 2020, up by 17 percent year on year.
China retains 14th place in the 2020 Global Innovation Index, remaining the only middle-income economy among the 30 top-ranking countries.
U.S. President Joe Biden has criticized the lifting of pandemic-related curbs by two southern states, calling these actions "Neanderthal thinking."
The Republican governors in the states of Texas and Mississippi have decided to reverse mask mandates and other COVID-19 safety policies.
Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned of a fourth resurgence in coronavirus cases, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said that all state regulations will be lifted starting on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced his state will revoke all state-imposed coronavirus regulations starting on March 10, citing lower case counts and the surge of vaccine accessibility.
U.S. Capitol Police say they have learned of a "possible plot to breach the Capitol" by a militia group.
The group is said to be driven by a conspiracy theory suggesting former President Donald Trump would return to power on March 4.
The Capitol Police say they have obtained intelligence about the plot and made "significant security upgrades" to the Capitol starting earlier this week.
The Pan American Health Organization has expressed concern that the limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines is not being distributed equitably.
Director Dr. Carissa Etienne warns that the disparities in vaccine distribution pose a risk of more dangerous variants emerging.
"This disparity harms our principles of solidarity but more than that it is a self-defeating strategy. As long as COVID-19 endures in one part of the world, the rest of the world can never be safe. And the longer we allow viruses to spread, the greater the risk that more dangerous variants emerge which could complicate control efforts."
She stressed that vaccines should not create further inequalities between countries, nor should they be a privilege of a few but a right for all.
