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Advanced technologies now account for 1 in 6 valid invention patents in China

Hi-tech manufacturing and digital industries such as AI have emerged as key drivers of economic growth

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A patent application service desk at the China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair in 2021. Photo: VCG via Getty Images
Xinyi Wuin Beijing

Advanced technologies now account for around one in every six valid invention patents in China, according to official data.

By the end of last month, valid invention patents in fields such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and big data made up 16.5 per cent of the country’s total valid patents, the China National Intellectual Property Administration said on Wednesday.

“The accelerated accumulation of patents in cutting-edge sectors is empowering and enhancing the creation of new drivers of economic growth,” administration spokesman Rui Wenbiao said at a press conference in Beijing.

China’s stock of “high-value invention patents” – which included patents in the advanced technology and new energy sectors, award-winning patents, and patent families with overseas extensions – now stood at 2.36 million, or 16.8 per 10,000 people, he said.

Hi-tech manufacturing and digital industries such as AI have emerged as key drivers of economic growth in China, even as the wider economy struggles with a prolonged property downturn and weak domestic demand.

China continues to dominate the generative AI patent landscape, but patent growth has been more dynamic in the United States and Japan
World Intellectual Property Organization
China accounts for most global generative AI patents, publishing over 43,000 patent families in 2024 and 2025, according to a report issued by the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) this month.
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