The number of valid invention patents and trademarks in China has exceeded 4.8 million and 45.1 million, respectively, as of September, the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) said on Wednesday.

China has established itself as a major intellectual property (IP) country, Shen Changyu, head of the NIPA, said at a press conference, adding that China has ranked first in the world for the number of international patent applications through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) for four consecutive years.

According to Shen, the added value of patent-intensive industries and the copyright industry accounted for 12.44 percent and 7.41 percent of GDP, respectively, strongly promoting the high-quality development of the economy.

According to the latest ranking published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China ranked in 12th place in the 2023 Global Innovation Index. Meanwhile, for the first time, China became the country with the largest number of top 100 sci-tech innovation clusters in the world.

Shen said China has been continuously strengthening its efforts to protect IP rights.

China has established a high-standard punitive compensation system for infringement of IP rights, built 103 national IP protection centers and rapid rights protection centers, and initiated the construction of national IP protection demonstration zones, he said.

In addition, China has continued to deepen international cooperation and exchanges on IP. China has promoted the mutual recognition and protection of 244 geographical indication products between China and the European Union, Shen added.