China becomes major IP power after 30 years in Patent Cooperation Treaty: FM

China has become a major intellectual property (IP) power and important pole in the world's innovation landscape after 30 years in the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing on Wednesday. 

"China attaches great importance to international patent cooperation and intellectual property protection," Wang said, noting that the number of international patent applications by Chinese applicants through the PCT has ranked first in the world for four consecutive years.

According to Wang, in the 30 years since joining the PCT, China has actively participated in the revision and improvement of international rules such as those of the PCT and continuously improved the domestic IP legal system, while carrying out fruitful cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). 

"IP is an important source of support for innovative development. With the support of patented technology, China has continuously improved its IP quality and efficiency to accelerate innovation," Wang noted. 

He gave the example of China's 126,400 global patent applications for solar cells, which ranked first in the world. China's leading new-energy vehicle producers have more than 100,000 valid global patents, leading in the green and low-carbon industry.

China continues to expand the opening-up of the IP field to create a market-oriented, legal and international first-class business environment, according to Wang. 

A total of 115 the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries have applied for 253,000 patents in China during the past 10 years, with an average annual growth rate of 5.4 percent. As of the end of 2022, the number of valid foreign invention patents in China reached 861,000, a year-on-year increase of 4.5 percent, which fully reflects the recognition of foreign-invested enterprises in China's IP protection.

China will continue to adhere to the principles of openness, inclusiveness, balance and universal benefit, strengthen international exchanges and cooperation with other countries in the field of IP, promote the development of global IP governance in a more fair and reasonable manner, and allow innovation to benefit more people of all countries, Wang said. 

According to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2023 released by the WIPO in September, China ranked 12th globally, with six indicators ranking first in the world. Three science and technology clusters - Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai-Suzhou - were among the world's top five. 

In addition, the GII identified 24 science and technology clusters in China, up from 21 in 2022, as the country is now home to the greatest number of science and technology clusters, said the WIPO.