2021年CRI 中国国际专利申请量居世界榜首 拜登怒批两州取消口罩令（在线收听）

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.

中国最高政治协商机构将于今天下午召开年度会议。

今年的会议将持续六天半。在2020年之前，会议通常持续10天左右。

关于“十四五”规划纲要草案和到2035年的长期发展目标的讨论将是本届会议的重点议题。

政协委员还将出席十三届全国人民代表大会第四次会议，听取并讨论包括政府工作报告在内的报告。

外国驻华使节将应邀出席开幕式和闭幕式。

外交部发言人表示，中方愿同各国一道，加强科学合作，参与全球知识产权治理。

汪文斌针对最新的知识产权报告作出上述表示，报告称，中国仍是《专利合作条约》的最大使用者，申请量近7万件。

“没有一个国家可以成为独立的创新中心，或独享创新成果。创新成果应惠及全球，而不应成为埋在山洞里的宝藏。中方愿同各国一道，继续加强科技创新与合作，积极参与全球知识产权治理，为全球知识产权平衡、包容、可持续发展做出更多贡献。”

官方数据显示，2020年中国授权发明专利53万件，同比增长17%。

中国在2020年“全球创新指数”中保持第14位，是前30名中唯一的中等收入经济体。

美国总统乔·拜登批评美国南部两个州取消疫情相关限制措施的做法，称这些举行是“尼安德特人的思维”。

得克萨州和密西西比州的共和党州长决定撤销口罩执行令和疫情相关的安全规定。

尽管美国疾病控制和预防中心警告冠状病毒病例将第四次激增，但密西西比州州长泰特·里夫斯表示，从周三开始，所有的州规都将被取消。

与此同时，得克萨斯州州长格雷格·阿博特宣布，由于病例数量减少，疫苗可获得性激增，该州将从3月10日起取消州内实施的疫情防控措施。

美国国会警察局表示，他们获悉一个民兵组织“可能图谋破坏国会大厦”。

据称，该组织受阴谋论的驱使，称前总统唐纳德·特朗普将在3月4日重新掌权。

美国国会大厦警察局表示，他们已经获得有关该阴谋的情报，并从本周早些时候开始对国会大厦进行了“重大安全升级”。

泛美卫生组织对新冠肺炎疫苗的有限供应没有得到公平分配表示担忧。

主任卡利萨·艾蒂恩博士警告称，疫苗分配上的差异带来了出现更危险病毒变异的风险。

“这种差异损害了我们的团结原则，是弄巧成拙的策略。只要新冠病毒在世界的一个地区持续存在，世界其他地区就永远不可能安全。我们让病毒传播的时间越长，出现更多危险变异的风险就越大，这会恶化我们控制的成果。”

她强调称，疫苗不应在国家之间造成进一步的不平等，疫苗也不应是少数人的特权，而应是所有人的权利。