BEIJING, Jan. 11(Xinhuanet)-- China is increasing intellectual property right protection to meet international demands and benefit China's economic development, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Tuesday at a regular press conference.

Kong Quan made the remark when asked to comment on the forthcoming Sino-US roundtable meeting on intellectual property right protection. US Secretary of Commerce Donald Louis Evans willattend the meeting, which will be held in China, Kong said.

The Sino-US economic and trade cooperation benefits both sides,he said. From January to November 2004, the bilateral trade volumereached 152.7 billion US dollars, up 34 percent. This is almost equal to the growth rate of China's total foreign trade volume.

With expanding cooperation with the United States, China hopes the bilateral economic and trade cooperation in the new year will make new progress through joint efforts, he said.