On the regular press conference held on October 26, Shen Changyu, director of China National Intellectual Property Administration, said that in recent years, the Chinese government has strictly protected the intellectual property rights of foreign-invested enterprises in accordance with the law, creating a fair and competitive business environment, and attracting more and more foreign-invested enterprises to apply for and implement patents in China. In the future, the authorities will take various measures to better respond to and resolve the concerns and demands of foreign-invested enterprises in the field of intellectual property, and promote greater foreign investment.

The “Special Action Plan for Patent Transformation and Utilization (2023-2025)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”) issued by the General Office of the State Council recently proposed to promote the patent transformation of foreign-invested enterprises on the basis of market principles.

At the regular press conference on the policies of the State Council held on October 26, Shen Changyu pointed out that from 2012 to September 2023, the number of invention patents granted to foreigners in China totaled 1.055 million, and the number of valid invention patents reached 897,000. In the first seven months of this year, China’s total import and export of intellectual property fees reached 223.8 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), an increase of 3.2% year-on-year. Among them, imports were 175.17 billion yuan, an increase of 2.8% year-on-year. These data fully reflect the recognition of foreign-invested enterprises on China’s intellectual property protection.

He said that in order to better respond to and resolve the concerns and demands of foreign-invested enterprises in the field of intellectual property, and promote greater foreign investment, the next step, the NIPA will work with relevant departments to improve the communication and exchange mechanism with foreign-invested enterprises, and strictly protect the intellectual property rights of foreign-invested enterprises in accordance with the law. At the same time, promote the exchange and cooperation of patent technology among countries on the basis of marketization and legalization principles, such as relying on the intellectual property cooperation mechanisms of China, the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, BRICS and other countries, strengthening dialogue and exchange with the industry, holding relevant intellectual property forums and exhibitions, promoting international cooperation and exchange of intellectual property and the transaction and transformation of patent technology products, and promoting greater foreign investment.