Data released on July 29 shows China's intellectual property (IP) work has maintained a high-quality development trend since the beginning of the year, achieving a stable start for the "15th Five-Year Plan" period (2026-2030).

In the first half of the year, China granted 453,000 invention patents, approved 2.055 million registered trademarks, and recognized 64 geographical indication products. The country also registered 8 geographical indications as collective or certification marks, issued 5,061 integrated circuit layout designs, and approved the construction of 2 new national IP protection centers and 6 rapid rights protection centers. Additionally, more than 19,000 enterprises benefited from patent and trademark pledge financing, further solidifying China's status as a major IP power.

Two Rises and Two Strengths

The work in the first half can be summarized by "two rises and two strengths." First, the quality of IP creation has steadily improved. By the end of June, China held 2.36 million high-value invention patents, with 16.8 per 10,000 people. This growth reflects the country's rising innovation capability. Meanwhile, the trademark structure has been optimized, with service trademarks accounting for 31% of all valid registered trademarks, providing a strong protective shield for the brand development of the modern service industry.

Second, the endogenous driving force for enterprise innovation and development has continued to rise. A total of 574,000 domestic enterprises hold valid invention patents, with a total of 4.254 million patents, representing 74.8% of the national total—an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the end of last year. This further solidifies the central role of enterprises in innovation. Additionally, brand protection awareness is growing, with one valid registered trademark for every four market entities. The number of entities using geographical indication special marks has reached 55,000, accelerating corporate brand building.

Turning to the "two strengths," first, innovation momentum in key areas has been continuously enhanced. By the end of June, valid invention patents in new-generation information technology fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet, cloud computing, and big data accounted for 16.5% of the total. The rapid accumulation of patents in frontier sectors is empowering the creation of new economic growth points.

Second, the international competitiveness of intellectual property has been significantly strengthened. In the first half of the year, Chinese applicants' submissions for PCT international patent applications, Hague System industrial design applications, and Madrid System international trademark registrations all ranked among the top globally, with overall scale growing steadily. In the first five months, China's IP royalty export revenue reached 45.5 billion yuan, a sharp year-on-year increase of 64.9%, indicating that Chinese enterprises are actively using IP to build new international competitive advantages and drive the high-quality development of the service trade.

Key Focus Areas for the "15th Five-Year Plan"

For the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) will focus on five key areas: serving the national development strategy, cultivating new growth drivers, promoting high-quality development, responding to technological innovation needs, and fostering coordinated regional development. A major priority will be supporting the development of new quality productive forces and the growth of emerging and future industries.

"Currently, emerging and future industries such as AI, quantum technology, new-generation information technology, and biomedicine are characterized by rapid technological iteration and deep cross-sector integration, which places new demands on establishing and improving the IP protection system," said an official. To address this, the CNIPA has issued guidelines for AI-related invention patent applications and revised the Patent Examination Guidelines to include a dedicated chapter on AI and big data, refining examination standards for AI inventions in areas such as subject eligibility and scope.

By the end of June, the number of valid invention patents in strategic emerging industries (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) had reached 1.746 million, an increase of 4.3% from the end of last year, with a number of key core technology patents deployed across multiple industrial fields.

Accelerating Transformation of IP Achievements

The transformation of IP achievements in emerging fields is also accelerating. The CNIPA is building high-standard industry IP operation centers around emerging sectors like the Internet of Things and AI to promote the industrialization of related patents. Among the 65 IP operation centers approved so far, 48—over 70%—are involved in emerging and future industries such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, aerospace, and 6G.

Looking ahead, the CNIPA will adhere to the strategic goals set in the "Outline for Building a Strong Intellectual Property Country (2021-2035)" and follow the timetable, task list, and blueprint laid out in the "15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization." The aim is to ensure decisive progress in building China into a strong IP country by 2030.