 China State Councillor Liu Yandong and other high-ranking officials joined WIPO Director General Francis Gurry and over 700 delegates at today's opening of the diplomatic conference on the protection of audiovisual performances. Delegates from WIPO's 185 member states and over 40 non-governmental organizations are here to conclude negotiations on a treaty that will shore up the rights of performers in their audiovisual performances. Mrs. Yandong opened the conference by underlining the importance of intellectual property to economic growth, cultural development and human progress. Mr. Gurry stressed the importance of the Beijing talks, saying the diplomatic conference represents the success of the multilateral system. He also highlighted the importance of a treaty to audiovisual performers. The opening session also heard from a Chinese opera performer and a Canadian actress. IP is closely connected to the development of the economy and culture and plays an extremely important role in the progress of human civilization. It is necessary on the one hand to find a balance between the interests of the creator and the users. And in enacting international rules and standards on IP protection, we should take into account the specific circumstances of different countries, particularly with respect to developing nations and their different stages of development, histories, cultures and capacities. In the first place, it is an affirmation of the relevance of multilateralism in general and of multilateral rulemaking in the field of intellectual property in particular. Actors and audiovisual performers are fundamental to our capacity to experience the art that is produced by creators and composers and authors. Their performances instruct, they move and they enrich our lives and they are intrinsically worthy of protection. It is particularly appropriate that the value of performers should be recognised in a treaty that is concluded in China, both because of the depth of China's historical association with theatre and with performance and because of the vitality and dynamism of China's contemporary theatre, cinema and television. Theatre, acting and performance in China date back to the Shang dynasty and they enjoy an unbroken historical continuity and development and adaptation leading to the blossoming contemporary culture that saw China producing in 2010 over 500 feature films and China being produced the largest number of television series in the world. Digital technology and the internet offer the promise of a global audience and the unprecedented availability of creative works. At the same time, they make creative works increasingly vulnerable to unfair exploitation. The Beijing Treaty will enable performers to interact with greater confidence with the digital environment. It will remedy a widely perceived injustice of the unequal treatment of audiovisual performers compared to musical performers at the international level. We are very grateful to the government of China for its leadership in providing the platform to address this deficiency. And I urge all delegations to take the final step now to the international recognition of the intrinsic worth of audiovisual performances by concluding the Beijing Treaty in the coming days. Thank you very much. Unfortunately for different reasons, the right of performers have not been given adequate protection and recognition through international instruments. It's time for an international treaty that recognizes that truth, conclude the treaty, recognize the rights of audiovisual performers, give us the tools we need to keep telling our shared stories, to keep being players in this digital revolution and global exchange of ideas. It's the right thing to do. Thank you for this honor.