In a landmark announcement by the National Intellectual Property Office, China’s high-value invention patent ownership per million population surged to 15.3 for the first half of 2025, surpassing the 14th Five-Year Plan’s interim target of 12 items. This uptick comes alongside a total of 5.01 million effective invention patents granted domestically—a 13.2% year-on-year rise—signaling that China is not only innovating at scale but doing so with higher quality metrics. Stakeholders attribute this success to stronger policy support for R&D investment and streamlined patent examination processes. As a result, enterprises and research institutes are increasingly incentivized to translate breakthroughs into protected intellectual assets. The record figure underscores a strategic shift: nurturing deep-tech ecosystems where patents drive economic transformation rather than serving merely as legal formalities.To get more news about china daily newspaper, you can citynewsservice.cn official website.



Strategic emerging industries exhibited particularly rapid patent growth, with effective invention patents reaching 1.472 million by mid-2025, a 2.2-fold increase compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. This category encompasses sectors such as advanced manufacturing, new energy vehicles, and biotechnology, each vital to China’s ambitions for green and digital transitions. Analysts note that concentrated support—in the form of tax incentives, innovation vouchers, and specialized funding—has empowered startups and state-owned enterprises alike to accelerate patent filings. By focusing on transformative technologies, these policies aim to elevate supply-chain autonomy and reduce reliance on imported core components. The impressive growth rate in strategic sectors suggests that China’s innovation blueprint is yielding tangible results on the ground, paving the way for technological self-reliance.



Enterprise contributions to the patent landscape have also reached unprecedented levels. As of June 2025, 524,000 Chinese enterprises held effective invention patents, collectively owning 3.727 million such patents—a share of 44.4% of the national total, outperforming the end-2020 target by 6.1 percentage points. This milestone reflects a maturing private sector that increasingly views patenting not just as defensive IP management but as a critical driver of market competitiveness. From tech giants to innovative SMEs, companies have ramped up internal R&D capabilities, often through public-private partnerships and targeted talent programs. The alignment of corporate strategy with national innovation goals has created virtuous cycles: as companies patent more, they unlock licensing revenues and reinforce their global positioning in high-tech arenas.



Diving deeper into domain-specific trends, the information technology management sector led all fields with a 34.1% surge in effective invention patents, followed by computing technology at 22.7% and medical technology at 19.8%—all well above the national average growth rate. The prominence of IT management patents highlights China’s drive to master digital governance tools, encompassing everything from data sovereignty platforms to AI-driven analytics. In parallel, breakthroughs in computing hardware and algorithms underscore efforts to localize semiconductors and quantum computing research. The acceleration in medical technology patents signals an expanding healthcare innovation ecosystem, where breakthroughs in diagnostics, therapeutics, and digital health platforms address both domestic health needs and export potential. Together, these domain leaders paint a picture of diversified, yet interconnected, technological advancement.



The rapid expansion of digital tech and medical technology patents is laying the groundwork for industrial digitalization and public health resilience. Patent-protected innovations in cloud-edge collaboration, intelligent manufacturing, and health informatics are fertile testbeds for large-scale pilot projects across China’s major economic zones. Municipal and provincial governments are already integrating patented solutions into smart city initiatives, aiming to boost productivity while reducing environmental footprints. Concurrently, hospitals and biotech firms leverage patented medical devices and AI diagnostic tools to improve patient outcomes and streamline clinical workflows. As these innovations transition from labs to market, they generate multiplier effects—spurring job creation, enhancing export competitiveness, and reinforcing China’s soft power in global standards setting.



Alongside invention patents, trademark activity continues to optimize China’s intellectual property landscape. Domestic applications for trademark registration reached 940,000 in the first half of 2025, a 7.4% increase year-on-year, reflecting robust brand creation in consumer goods, green tech, and digital services industries. Meanwhile, international players from Germany, Italy, and the United States each saw their trademark filings in China grow by over 20%, indicating sustained foreign confidence in the Chinese market. This two-way trademark momentum underscores China’s evolution into both an IP source and destination. By bolstering IP enforcement and dispute resolution mechanisms, authorities aim to attract further inward investment while protecting homegrown brands from infringement—strengthening the overall innovation ecosystem.



China’s new milestone of 15.3 high-value invention patents per million people is more than a statistic—it embodies a strategic pivot toward a knowledge-driven economy. As patent bases deepen across critical sectors, China positions itself to lead global innovation chains, from next-generation computing to bioscience breakthroughs. The convergence of policy support, enterprise ambition, and domain expertise is now driving a virtuous cycle of invention, commercialization, and reinvestment. In the years ahead, sustaining this trajectory will hinge on nurturing talent, refining IP quality metrics, and expanding international collaboration—ensuring that China’s patents not only cover quantity but also deliver world-class impact.