CHINA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Binxin Li, Sally Wang, Guangzhen Shang and Yue He, LeanWill Law Firm
LeanWill Law Firm Unit 902 Tower A Dawning Center 500 Hongbaoshi Road Changning District Shanghai 201103 P. R. China Tel: +86 216 071 0709 Email: mail@leanwill.com Web: www.leanwill.com
Developments in China’s IP legal framework through- out 2025 have been characterised by several key priorities, including promoting innovation, safeguard- ing fair competition, strengthening IP protection, and advancing openness. These developments address emerging challenges arising from the digital economy and deeper global integration, while reinforcing the legal infrastructure that supports high-quality growth and reflecting China’s strategic shift in the IP sector from emphasising quantity to prioritising quality. This trajectory is also reflected in China’s continued rise in the WIPO Global Innovation Index, where it reached 10th place at the fastest rate on record among 139 economies worldwide, underscoring the growing effectiveness of its innovation and IP regime. This article provides an overview and brief analysis of the key legislative revisions, regulatory amendments, and evolving trends in judicial practice that have shaped China’s IP protection landscape. Focusing on the major IP sectors, namely trade marks, copy- right, patents, and trade secrets, it outlines significant developments and emerging trends characterised by stricter regulation, broader coverage of new business models, and increasingly robust enforcement. A Glance at IP Statistics in China A close examination of IP statistics in China reveals the above-mentioned shift from a volume-driven to a value-driven approach. According to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the number of high-value invention patents held by patentees in mainland China reached 2.29 million by
the end of 2025. Most of these patents relate to strate- gic emerging industries, including AI-related sectors, bio-manufacturing, the internet, and telecommunica- tions. The growth rate of high-value invention patents exceeded that of invention patents overall, while their share of total invention patents reached 43.1% in 2025, representing an increase of 2.9 percentage points compared with 2020. The World Intellectual Property Indicators 2025 report shows that China maintained its position as the global leader in patent filings, with 1.8 million applications worldwide, followed by the United States (501,831) and Japan (419,132). China also remained the largest source of global trade mark applications, accounting for approximately 7.3 million of the 15.2 million filings made worldwide. With regard to judicial IP protection, the 2025 Annual Report on IP Judicial Protection released by the IP Tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court (“SPC IP Tri- bunal”) indicates a continued strengthening of judicial protection through the more frequent application of punitive damages. By the end of 2025, the SPC IP Tribunal had awarded punitive damages in 58 cas- es, amounting to a total of RMB 2.05 billion. In 2025 alone, punitive damages were awarded in 30 cases, totalling RMB 1.13 billion. In addition, the SPC IP Tribunal concluded 181 cases relating to new plant varieties, among which punitive damages were awarded in 23 cases. This reflects both the rapid growth of the sector and China’s commit- ment to enhanced IP protection in emerging indus- tries. Over the past seven years, the SPC IP Tribunal
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