Red Fruit Scents the Helan Foothills, Culture Flows Along the Yellow River

From the market for Zhongning wolfberries to the Western Xia Imperial Tombs at the foot of the Helan Mountains and the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) Eight Treasures Tea experience hall in Wuzhong, a comprehensive intellectual property (IP) protection system covering special agriculture, world cultural heritage, and traditional ICH is taking root in Ningxia. Leveraging its unique regional resources, Ningxia is continuously connecting the entire chain of IP creation, protection, and application, laying a legal foundation for the revitalisation of special industries, the preservation of historical heritage, and the innovative development of ICH.

Establishing a Station in the Wolfberry Town: Geographical Indications Protect the Prosperity-Bringing Red Fruit Industry

Entering the Zhongning County Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Enforcement Aid Workstation, Office Director Jin Haiyan explained the full scope of the station's operations. This service point, designed to bridge the "last mile" of IPR enforcement, began preparations in December 2013 and was officially inaugurated in December 2024, filling a local gap in IPR enforcement support.

The workstation has built a full-chain IP service system covering prevention, early warning, and case handling. Its services include enforcement aid, risk assessment, patent cultivation, legal training, exhibition support, and IP-backed financing, with a strong focus on protecting the geographical indication for "Zhongning Wolfberries." It takes strong action against counterfeit wolfberries and the misuse of geographical indications. This year, staff have visited and surveyed nearly 150 companies, identifying 18 market entities with infringement risks and delivering IP early warning analysis letters to each. They have organised 5 specialised training sessions attended by over 400 participants and invited experts from outside the province for overseas IP-specific courses. The results have been significant, including facilitating the first 3 million yuan IP-backed financing deal in Ningxia. Since 2024, the station has continuously provided IP protection services for the 7th through 9th Wolfberry Expos and the 8th China-Arab States Expo. It has also promptly transferred to judicial authorities any leads on unauthorised cultivation of new plant varieties of Zhongning wolfberries. The station continuously reviews the county's trademark development status, produces analysis reports for regulatory bodies, and provides data to support industry governance.

Meanwhile, the Zhongning Wolfberry New Business Public Legal Service Centre is also working in tandem to create the "Legal Aid Protects Wolfberry" service brand. This extends legal services across the entire wolfberry industry chain—from cultivation and processing to trading—creating a collaborative government-enterprise shield for the IP protection of special agricultural products.

Ordinance Safeguards the World Heritage Site: Legal Framework Ushers in a New Era for Cultural Heritage Protection

At the eastern foot of the Helan Mountains, the Western Xia Imperial Tombs stand silently, bearing witness to the millennium-old Western Xia civilisation. On July 11, 2025, the tombs were successfully inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. A year later, the "Yinchuan City Western Xia Imperial Tombs World Cultural Heritage Protection Ordinance" officially came into effect, marking a new phase of standardised legal protection for the site.

The tombs, which include 9 imperial mausoleums and hundreds of accompanying tombs, are precious relics demonstrating the interaction and integration of various ethnic groups. The newly implemented "Ordinance" aligns with the "World Heritage Convention" and introduces three key institutional innovations: establishing a dual-tiered red line for protection zones (heritage and buffer zones) to ensure rigid control over the entire site; building a full-chain governance model of "protection, interpretation, utilisation, and transmission"; and clarifying the rights and responsibilities of different parties to establish a collaborative management mechanism. The ordinance explicitly prohibits illegal construction, soil extraction, and grazing within the heritage zone. It plans to use the Internet of Things (IoT) and remote sensing to build a smart early warning platform to prevent damage from both human activity and natural erosion. While prioritising protection, the policy encourages digital exhibitions and immersive cultural experiences, strictly controls excessive commercial development, and focuses on strengthening IP protection for the Western Xia cultural brand. This approach allows for the revitalisation and use of ancient historical resources within a compliant framework, using the rule of law to protect precious cultural roots.

Empowering with IP: Non-Heritage Time-Honoured Brands Forge a New Path to Brand Innovation

A bowl of Eight Treasures Tea carries centuries of craftsmanship and relies on IP protection to uphold its ICH status. At the Liu San Duo Eight Treasures Tea • Ningxia Tea Art Museum in Wuzhong's Niu Jia Fang Village, the fragrant brew attracts visitors from all over. The tea-making technique, originating from the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, was inscribed on the autonomous region's list of ICH in 2021. As the brand's popularity grew, so did issues like counterfeit products, misappropriation of the ICH label, and packaging design plagiarism.

The inheritors chose to arm themselves with IP, systematically building a portfolio of trademarks, utility model patents, and cultural copyrights. They have obtained 14 utility model patents covering various aspects of production, processing, and display. An IP protection workstation has been established within the museum, and a regular liaison mechanism has been set up with the public security department. Regular case-based legal education sessions are held to teach business operators about trademark and copyright protection. Local judicial authorities frequently hold law-popularisation activities at the tea museum, integrating legal education into the ICH experience, allowing the public to learn about the law while enjoying tea. Relying on this comprehensive IP protection system, Liu San Duo has expanded its reach through e-commerce and cultural tourism experiences, transforming its ICH resources into an industrial advantage. The transmission of this ICH is no longer limited to teaching the traditional craft. This complete IP strategy effectively shields the brand from market counterfeiting, helping this local time-honoured business achieve stable, long-term development.

From a special industry chain and a world cultural heritage site to a traditional ICH craft, these diverse practices outline a clear path for IP protection in Ningxia.

(Editor: Ma Changyan)

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