Artificial Intelligence Patent Holdings Rank Among the Top Globally

China Granted 972,000 Invention Patents in 2025

On January 23, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to brief on the progress of intellectual property work in 2025. Last year, China granted 972,000 invention patents, received 78,000 PCT international patent applications, and registered 420,600 trademarks. By the end of 2025, the total number of valid domestic invention patents in China reached 5.32 million, with the number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people reaching 16.

Valid invention patents in fields such as information technology management methods, computer technology, and medical technology showed the fastest growth.

Innovation quality continues to improve, with key regions demonstrating strong innovation activity. Rui Wenbiao, Deputy Director of the National Intellectual Property Administration, explained that among domestic valid invention patents, those in fields like information technology management methods, computer technology, and medical technology grew the fastest, with artificial intelligence patent holdings ranking among the top globally. By the end of 2025, the Yangtze River Delta region, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and Guangdong Province had 1.734 million, 916,000, and 899,000 valid invention patents, respectively, accounting for about two-thirds of the national total.

By the end of 2025, China’s domestic high-value invention patents reached 2.292 million, accounting for 43.1% of the total valid domestic invention patents, an increase of 2.9 percentage points from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period.

"Domestic valid invention patents in strategic emerging industries reached 1.534 million, while 280,000 enterprises held 1.764 million high-value invention patents, making them the 'main force' in creating high-value patents," said Liang Xinxin, Director of the Strategic Planning Department of the National Intellectual Property Administration. He noted that China's patent structure is improving, with a rising proportion of invention patents that have higher technological content, greater market value, and more stable rights status.

Stronger Measures to Regulate Malicious Trademark Squatting and Hoarding

In 2025, intellectual property authorities handled 57,000 administrative cases of patent infringement disputes, and public satisfaction with intellectual property protection rose to 82.81 points. Regarding the enhanced protection of intellectual property rights for private enterprises, Guo Wen, Director of the Intellectual Property Protection Department of the National Intellectual Property Administration, stated that in 2025, national-level intellectual property protection centers and rapid enforcement centers accepted over 200,000 patent pre-examination cases for private enterprises, with an average authorization period of less than three months. At the same time, illegal activities infringing on trademarks, patents, and other intellectual property rights of private enterprises were strictly cracked down upon in accordance with the law.

Addressing prominent issues in the trademark field, Rui Wenbiao emphasized the need to resolve them at the institutional level by taking advantage of the ongoing revision of the Trademark Law. "For trademark applications that are not intended for use and clearly exceed the needs of normal production and operation, registration will be explicitly denied, and stronger measures will be taken to regulate malicious trademark squatting and hoarding," Rui Wenbiao explained. He cited examples, noting that the misuse of registered trademarks to mislead the public will face stricter penalties, and in severe cases, the trademarks will be revoked.

As Chinese enterprises increasingly participate in global trade, foreign-related intellectual property disputes have become a significant challenge. Guo Wen reported that by the end of 2025, 99 overseas intellectual property dispute guidance platforms had been established nationwide. Six industry-specific platforms were set up for key sectors such as automobiles and photovoltaics, and 11 overseas platforms were deployed in other countries. "Throughout 2025, guidance and consulting services were provided to enterprises over 4,800 times to address issues such as cross-border e-commerce intellectual property disputes and overseas trademark squatting, helping them recover losses totaling 2.75 billion yuan," Guo Wen added.

Correcting the "Quantity-Only" Approach: Phasing Out Financial Subsidies for Patent Applications and Grants

The benefits of intellectual property are accelerating. In 2025, China completed 697,000 patent assignment and licensing filings, a year-on-year increase of 13.7%. Among them, universities and research institutions completed nearly 90,000 filings, a year-on-year increase of 16.6%. The industrialization rate of enterprise invention patents reached 54%, showing steady growth over multiple years. From January to November 2025, the total import and export value of intellectual property royalties nationwide reached 382.87 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%, with exports growing by 23.1%. This contributed to the upward trend and innovation in China’s service trade exports.

The transformation and implementation of innovation achievements rely on high-quality intellectual property public services. Currently, China has established 1,057 intellectual property public service outlets in various technology parks. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, public service institutions served innovation entities over 5 million times. Yang Fan, Director of the Public Service Department of the National Intellectual Property Administration, stated, "We have also developed 28 key industry patent thematic search databases, providing patent information search services for key areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum information, and integrated circuits. In 2025, various services were provided over 100 million times, with information query services exceeding 2 billion times and search analysis services about 96 million times."

Patent quality is an important indicator of innovation levels. Rui Wenbiao emphasized that to firmly correct the "quantity-only" approach, efforts will be made to urge all departments and regions to completely phase out financial subsidies for patent applications and grants. At the same time, universities and research institutions will be guided to establish pre-application evaluation systems for patents, ensuring that applications are filed only after evaluation, thereby intercepting low-quality patent applications at an early stage.