China's high-value patents exceed 2.29 mln in 2025

The number of high-value invention patents on the Chinese mainland reached 2.29 million by the end of 2025, marking stronger growth than total invention patents, said the country's intellectual property regulator on Friday.

According to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the year-on-year growth rate of high-value invention patents was 2.2 percentage points higher than that of the country's total invention patents last year.

About 70 percent of these high-value invention patents are concentrated in strategic emerging industries. The fastest growth was seen in fields such as information technology management, computer technology and medical technology, with AI-related patents ranking among the top globally.

Meanwhile, China has also built a portfolio of patents in key future-oriented industries, including quantum technology, biomanufacturing, brain-computer interfaces, and sixth-generation (6G) mobile communications technology.

Notably, innovation is highly concentrated in China's major regional hubs. By the end of 2025, the valid invention patents held in the Yangtze River Delta in east China, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in north China, and south China's Guangdong Province reached 1.734 million, 916,000, and 899,000 respectively.

Together, these regions account for approximately two-thirds of the national total. They also held a combined 28.058 million valid registered trademarks, representing over half of the national total.

These innovative achievements have translated into tangible economic and market benefits.

"Throughout the year 2025, patent transfer and licensing filings nationwide reached 697,000, marking a year-on-year increase of 13.7 percent. The industrialization rate of enterprise invention patents reached 54 percent, marking steady growth for multiple consecutive years. From January to November 2025, the total import and export volume of intellectual property royalties nationwide reached 382.87 billion yuan (about 54.9 billion U.S. dollars), a rise of 7.4 percent year-on-year. Notably, exports in this category grew by 23.1 percent, providing a significant boost to the expansion and upgrading of China's service trade exports," said Rui Wenbiao, deputy head of the CNIPA.

Latest data showed that value-added output of China's patent-intensive industries has surpassed 18 trillion yuan (about 2.58 trillion U.S. dollars). Its share of GDP has risen from 11.97 percent in 2020 to 13.38 percent in 2024, underscoring the accelerating economic impact of intellectual property.

China's high-value patents exceed 2.29 mln in 2025

Serbia's Agriculture Minister Dragan Glamocic hailed the surge in exports to China following the launch of a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) in recent years, calling the pact a strategic relationship of mutual vision and voicing optimism for deeper bilateral cooperation.

The FTA between China and Serbia, signed in October 2023 and implemented on July 1, 2024, eliminates tariffs on roughly 90 percent of bilateral trade. More than 60 percent of goods became duty-free immediately upon its entry into force, marking a decisive step in deepening economic ties.

He said the agreement has reshaped Serbia’s trade profile, fueling a 69-percent jump in agricultural exports while accelerating imports of Chinese technologies and farm mechanization.

"The relationship between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Serbia, I would describe as a long-term, strategic relationship of mutual political and clear economic vision.The Free Trade Agreement between our countries was signed in 2023. It was introduced in 2024. As a result, our trade exchange has greatly improved, especially in the field of agriculture. We can say from that moment our exports to China grew for 69 percent. We have also made easier the import of certain things, such as mechanization and digital technologies, from the People's Republic of China to Serbia," said Glamocic.

"Our traditional products, such as wine, our domestic brandy, our honey, dried plums, frozen raspberries, similarly, imports of modern technologies from China are increasing, mechanization also, which really improves our agriculture business in Serbia. So I am an optimist that it will get better and better every day," he added.

The minister spoke highly of Serbia's partnership with China and voiced hope for broader cooperation in the future.

"What I would expect from China is that we sometimes try to speed up these procedures as much as possible. It is especially an honor for us when such a small country has such a status in the People's Republic of China. We were the first country to sign this type of strategic document in Europe, and we have reached the highest possible level among the two countries," he said.

Serbian agriculture minister reports record export growth to China