On the 45th anniversary of China's accession to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has announced China continues to lead the world in key metrics for intellectual property (IP) creation and protection. According to official figures for 2024, China remained the largest submitter of international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty and industrial design applications under the Hague System, and public satisfaction with IP rights protection rose to 82.36 points, setting a new record.

On June 3, 1980, China joined the Convention Establishing the WIPO, officially becoming a member of the organization. Over the past 45 years, China has not only built itself into an IP powerhouse, but also embarked on a path of IP development with Chinese characteristics.

China regards innovation as the main driver for economic and social development, with IP being a major indicator of advancing innovation. This makes IP creation and protection vitally important for the achievement of the country's major development goals. China has therefore placed heavy emphasis on effective planning and on making rapid progress in improving the institutional guarantee for IP development, the quality of IP creation, the benefits of IP application, the protection of IP rights, the IP service system and international IP cooperation. This has not only advanced domestic innovation and economic growth, but also made important contributions to global IP governance.

As part of its institution-building efforts, China has introduced laws and regulations such as the Trademark Law, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and the Copyright Law, and made revisions in line with economic and social developments.

Through these measures, the quality of China's IP creation has improved over the past 45 years. In 2024, 1.05 million invention patents were authorized, 4.78 million trademarks and 10.63 million copyrights were registered, and 36 geographical indication products were recognized. Over the same period, the authorities granted 5,797 new plant variety rights in agriculture and 878 in the forestry and grassland sectors. In the 2024 Global Innovation Index report released by the WIPO, China's ranking rose to 11th, with 26 of the world's top 100 technology clusters coming from China, remaining at the top for two consecutive years. Last year, Chinese enterprises achieved an industrialization rate of 53.3 percent for effective invention patents, with the added value contributing 13.04 percent to the country's GDP.

Continuously improving IP rights protection in new fields and new business forms is a key task for China. In recent years, the CNIPA has promoted the institutional innovation in IP rights protection in the field of AI, providing powerful institutional guarantee for its technological and industrial development. The country has issued guidelines for patent applications for AI-related inventions, focusing on key AI fields to provide rapid examination services for related patent applications. A report from the WIPO shows that China has become the largest holder of AI patents globally, possessing approximately 60 percent of the total.

With profound changes in China's consumption patterns, online shopping has become part of people's daily life, making the online sale of counterfeited goods a focus of public attention. In recent years, the authorities have launched online and offline campaigns, cracking down on infringement and counterfeiting to maintain the order of the online market. In particular, the country has been exploring the innovation of law enforcement methods to crack down on infringement and counterfeiting in online sales and livestream sales.

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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