The study finds that for technologies that China has identified as strategic, a patent application’s risk of rejection rises from 16.6 to 25.6 percent if it is foreign, an increase of 54 percent.

Fact of the Week: Foreign Applications for Chinese Patents in Key Technologies are 54 Percent More Likely to be Rejected

China’s patent output has grown dramatically in recent years, both in terms of the volume of patents submitted for international protection under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and in terms of the number of citations those patents receive, a standard measure of a patent’s importance. New research breaking down the sources of those citations raises significant doubts about whether the growth in Chinese patent citations is as meaningful as it appears.

Fact of the Week: Chinese Patents Received 90 Percent as Many Citations as Other Countries From 2001 to 2009, but only 32 Percent as Many Foreign Citations

Foreign patent applications in technology fields of strategic importance to China are less likely to be approved than local applications, writes Stephen Ezell in Innovation Files.

Innovation Fact of the Week: Foreign Patent Applications in Tech Fields of Strategic Importance to China are 4-7 Percentage Points Less Likely to be Approved than Local Applications, All Else Equal

Based on China’s economic characteristics, it should have seen about 212,200 resident patents in 2018, not 1.4 million.

Fact of the Week: Subsidies Have Reduced China’s Overall Patent Quality to Just 19 Percent of What It Would Have Been Otherwise

Fact of the Week: Subsidies Have Reduced China's Overall Patent Quality to Just 19 Percent of What It Would Have Been Otherwise

China's annual R&D investment growth of between 6 percent and 7 percent outpaces the U.S. R&D growth rate of 3 percent to 4 percent, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Innovation Fact of the Week: China Projected to Pass U.S. R&D Investment by 2025

As of 2022, China is producing over 35 percent of the publications in top-tier journals, up from nearly zero in 1980. At the same time, the United States has seen its share fall rapidly to about 25 percent.

Fact of the Week: In 2022, China Produced Over 35 Percent of the Publications in the Top 5 Percent of Journals

China ranked 11th overall in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 2022 Global Innovation Index, up 23 spots from ten years ago.

Fact of the Week: China Jumps to 11th Overall in the 2022 Global Innovation Index

State-owned Chinese firms receive up to four times more R&D subsidies but are less innovative than private Chinese firms, writes John Wu in Innovation Files

Fact of the Week: Private Chinese Firms Innovate More Efficiently Than State-Owned Firms, Yet China Showers Much More Generous R&D Subsidies on State-Owned Firms

In 2024, researchers and scientists in China were responsible for developing more than 1,250 new drugs, more than the EU and just slightly less than the United States, which developed 1,440. In total, China developed 30 percent of the world's new innovative drugs.

Fact of the Week: Chinese Patents in Several Critical Technologies Are Closer to the Scientific Frontier Than Their US Competitors

Related

Fact of the Week: Foreign Applications for Chinese Patents in Key Technologies are 54 Percent More Likely to be Rejected

Fact of the Week: Chinese Patents Received 90 Percent as Many Citations as Other Countries From 2001 to 2009, but only 32 Percent as Many Foreign Citations

Innovation Fact of the Week: Foreign Patent Applications in Tech Fields of Strategic Importance to China are 4-7 Percentage Points Less Likely to be Approved than Local Applications, All Else Equal