Feb. 26, 2026 11:43 China Times News
China Surpasses 5 Million Invention Patents; Applications Rank First Globally for Consecutive Years
[By Wu Hongxun]
According to data from China’s National Intellectual Property Administration, the number of valid invention patents in China has reached 5.32 million, making China the first country in the world with more than 5 million valid invention patents. During the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the number of valid invention patents in China continued to grow, with 16 high-value invention patents per 10,000 people. As of 2025, China’s invention patent applications have ranked first globally for many consecutive years, making the country a major force in global patents.
In addition, as of the end of January 2026, foreign applicants held more than 922,000 valid invention patents in China.
Looking back, it took 31 years for China’s valid invention patents to reach the first one million, while reaching the fifth one million took about 19 months.
According to a report by People’s Daily, patent creation has strongly supported China’s push to accelerate high-level technological self-reliance and innovation. By the end of 2025, China held 2.292 million high-value invention patents, about 70% of which belong to strategic emerging industries.
For example, China holds about 60% of the world’s artificial intelligence patents, around two-thirds of global robot-related patents, and its international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in green and low-carbon technologies have ranked first in the world for many consecutive years.
At the same time, patent protection and commercialization have improved significantly. The average examination period for invention patents in China has been shortened to 15 months, representing one of the fastest examination timelines internationally under comparable systems, while public satisfaction with intellectual property protection has continued to rise. Statistics also show that since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, banking institutions have cumulatively issued more than RMB 900 billion in intellectual-property-backed loans.