China's invention patents exceed 1.7 mln in strategic emerging industries

China has accumulated more than 1.7 million valid invention patents in strategic emerging industries by the end of June this year, said the spokesman for the China National Intellectual Property Administration on Wednesday.

Spokesman Rui Wenbiao, also the deputy director of the administration, said at a press conference in Beijing that China will continue to improve its intellectual property rights protection system for industry.

The intellectual property protection system in emerging fields is constantly innovating. We have released the Guidelines for Patent Applications Related to Artificial Intelligence and revised the Patent Examination Guidelines, adding a chapter on 'AI and Big Data'. By the end of June, China, excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, had 1.746 million valid invention patents in strategic emerging industries, an increase of 4.3 percent from the end of last year. The 65 approved intellectual property operation centers include 48 ones involved in emerging and future industries such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, aerospace, and 6G, accounting for more than 70 percent of the total," said Rui.

"Next, we will focus on the development and practices of different industries in emerging fields, provide better authorization and rights confirmation models for their development, and define clearer rights ownership, protection scope and protection forms to promote the high-quality development of emerging and future industries," he said.

China's invention patents exceed 1.7 mln in strategic emerging industries

The number of sterling millionaires in Britain has fallen to its lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis, according to new figures released Tuesday by the Adam Smith Institute.

The think tank's latest Millionaire Tracker, based on updated data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), estimated that Britain now has 442,000 sterling millionaires, down 7 percent from 2024.

The institute attributed the decline to falling real asset prices, a low household savings rate and the emigration of high-net-worth individuals.

"Millionaires are leaving the UK for a number of reasons, including high levels of current taxation, threats of further increases (including a wealth tax), the abolition of the non-dom regime, and a culture which is hostile to wealth creators," the institute said in its report.

Mitchell Palmer, an economist at the institute, said the decline should be seen as "a warning signal."

He said every millionaire that leaves means less capital for British businesses, fewer international connections, and weaker entrepreneurial spirit in the economy.

He warned that proposals such as introducing a wealth tax or aligning capital gains tax rates with income tax would further accelerate the outflow of wealth, and called instead for policies that encourage ambitious individuals to build and retain their wealth in Britain.

Number of UK millionaires falls to lowest level since global financial crisis