China’s Patent Momentum Accelerates with Record Approvals and Global Reach

In a year marked by record patent approvals and expanding global influence, China’s intellectual property system underscores its resilience and technical depth. Fresh data underscores that, while international patent filings have plateaued, domestic innovation continues to surge, supported by policy reforms aimed at elevating patent quality and utilization—a narrative befitting widespread media dissemination.

In 2024, China granted approximately 1.05 million invention patents, marking an impressive 13.5 percent increase over the prior year. This volume not only establishes China as the world’s undisputed leader in patent grants but also reflects sustained momentum in domestic invention activity. By year-end, Chinese innovators held over 4.76 million valid invention patents, firmly securing the highest total globally.

International engagement also strengthened. In 2024, applicants from China filed some 75,000 PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) international patent applications—a 7.7 percent increase year-on-year—maintaining China’s position as the top filer globally. At the same time, Chinese inventors lodged 4,868 industrial design patent applications through the Hague System, another growth marker of 29.5 percent.

Quality and enforcement remain central to China’s IP narrative. By the end of 2024, China accounted for 60 percent of the world’s artificial intelligence (AI) patent holdings, signaling both strength in frontier technologies and strategic orientation. Further, the industrialization of patent rights rose steadily. In 2023, China attained an invention-patent industrialization rate of 39.6 percent, marking the fifth consecutive year of improvement—and enterprise patents stood at 51.3 percent. The average economic return per industrialized invention patent, across enterprises, reached approximately RMB 8.296 million—an increase from RMB 7.992 million in the prior year.

Policy reforms have continued to sharpen patent processing. By late 2023, the CNIPA had reported over 4 million valid invention patents. Concurrently, reforms aimed at accelerating examination resulted in average pendency dropping to around 15.5 months. These gains enhance patent protection pace, reinforcing confidence among innovators and enhancing deterrence against infringement.

Moreover, by the end of September 2024, China counted roughly 5.55 million valid invention patents, 11.63 million utility-model patents, and 3.04 million design patents, of which over 94 percent derived from domestic filings, reinforcing the domestic strength of the patent ecosystem.

By contrast, on the global stage, patent application growth has slowed. According to WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Indicators report, applicants based in China filed approximately 1.64 million patent applications in 2023—a 3.6 percent increase from 2022, trailing only India’s more robust growth of 15.7 percent. The global patent filing environment, however, contracted for the first time in years: PCT filings fell 1.8 percent in 2023, with China’s PCT applications dipping 0.6 percent—the first decline since 2002.

In emerging technologies like generative AI, China’s dominance is unmistakable. Over the past decade, China filed more than 38,000 GenAI patents, compared to just over 6,200 by the United States—a sixfold difference.

These figures collectively illustrate the dual character of China’s current IP trajectory. Domestically, the system is robust: patent awards are increasing, processing times shortening, industrialization strengthening, and frontier sectors expanding their footprint. Internationally, despite a slight cooling in annual growth rates, China remains preeminent in terms of both volume and technical leadership.

Looking ahead, this trajectory suggests a maturation phase for the Chinese patent system. As annual filings stabilize, policymaker attention appears focused beyond mere volume—toward value, enforcement, and international competitiveness, particularly in emerging domains like AI. The remarkable increase in approved patents and the expansion of global filings indicate that China remains at the forefront of the global innovation ecosystem.

The country’s capacity to translate vast patent holdings into economic and industrial impact has become increasingly vital. With sustained reforms, faster examination, investment in emerging technology sectors, and deeper international engagement, China’s patent landscape continues to evolve—and lead.