On 29 July 2026, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) held a press conference focused on intellectual property and the 15th Five-Year Plan.
Liang Xinxin, Director of the Strategic Planning Department of the CNIPA, confirmed that high-value invention patents per 10,000 people remains a major indicator of national economic and social development.
The target for high-value invention patents per 10,000 people has been set at more than 22, representing an increase of more than 6 compared to the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
Director Liang defined high-value invention patents across four categories, beginning with invention patents in strategic emerging industries such as next-generation information technology and new energy.
The definition also covers invention patents with patent families overseas, referring mainly to overseas authorised patents sharing the same technical solution as a domestic filing.
Invention patents with a maintenance period exceeding 10 years and those that have won the National Science and Technology Award or the China Patent Award also qualify under the new definition.
Notably, the updated framework removes a previous qualifying category: patents that realise a higher amount of pledge financing, also known as secured debt.
Director Liang noted that “patents in strategic emerging industries account for over 70% of my country’s high-value invention patents, and this proportion is expected to further increase during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.”
Rui Wenbiao, Spokesperson and Deputy Director of the CNIPA, stated that “as of the end of June, my country had 2.36 million high-value invention patents, with 16.8 high-value invention patents per 10,000 people.”
Rui also highlighted strong growth in intellectual property royalties exports, noting that “in the first five months, my country’s intellectual property royalties exports reached 45.5 billion RMB, a substantial year-on-year increase of 64.9%.”
Rui stated that CNIPA will “further improve intellectual property protection rules in fields such as artificial intelligence, big data, and algorithms” and will “deeply participate in the formulation of relevant international rules and standards.”
On artificial intelligence specifically, CNIPA plans to conduct in-depth research on the patentability, applicants, and protected objects of AI-generated products, revising examination guidelines as needed.
The administration also intends to improve patent examination standards for emerging sectors such as “AI+” embodied intelligence and brain-computer interfaces, strengthening institutional guarantees for innovative achievements.
Rui confirmed that China currently has over 900 publicly accepted goods and services projects involving new industries and new business models such as artificial intelligence and big data.
CNIPA also plans to use AI tools internally, expanding deployment of large-scale AI models across examination, protection, utilisation, service, management, and security functions within the IP system.