A model of deep-sea submarine device with Chinese independent IPR is displayed in Qingdao, Shandong province, on June 22, 2022. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By LIN Yuchen

China has made historic progress in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protections over the past decade, driving regularly up its number of high-value patents, according to the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) in a press conference on October 9.

From 2012 to 2021, over 3.9 million patents had been granted, indicating an annual growth rate of 13.8 percent on average. Over 3.5 million trademarks had been registered with an average growth rate of 25.5 percent annually during the same period.

"This is the fruitful result of China's efforts to strengthen the protection and application of intellectual property rights and solidly promote the construction of a strong intellectual property country," said Ge Shu, an official at NIPA.

By July 2022, there were more than 326,000 domestic enterprises holding over two million valid patents in China, accounting for 68.5 percent of the total number of domestic valid patents.

For the high -tech industry, there were over 1.3 million valid patents in 156,000 enterprises, accounting for 64.2 percent of all valid patents of domestic enterprises.

As for opening up to the outside world, the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances came into effect in April 2020, indicating the first intellectual property service treaty signed in China and named after a Chinese city.

The Hague Agreement, concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs and the Marrakesh Treaty, also signify the progress of China's IPR protection endeavors in the international arena.

According to NIPA, in 2021, the number of patents for inventions and trademarks granted to foreign applicants has grown by 23 percent and 5 percent year-on-year respectively. In the same year, joint ventures IPR protection has escalated as well.