BEIJING — With the continued growth of patents and strengthened protection efforts, China has basically achieved the goal of building a country with high-level creation, utilization, protection and management of the intellectual property (IP), the country's industry watchdog said Thursday.

From 2007 to 2019, the number of valid invention patents held on the Chinese mainland has increased from 84,000 to 1.86 million

China has become a veritable IP power with a huge increase of patents over the past 12 years, said Shen Changyu, head of China's National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) at a press conference during the National IP Publicity Week 2020 in Beijing.

From 2007 to 2019, the number of valid invention patents held on the Chinese mainland has increased from 84,000 to 1.86 million, and the number of valid registered trademarks has increased from 2.35 million to 25.22 million.

China has taken the global lead in the number of applications for patents. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, with 59,000 applications filed in 2019 via the Patent Cooperation Treaty System, China overtook the United States as the biggest user of the system.

"Remarkable achievements in IP utilization have effectively promoted economic and social development," Shen said, citing that the added value of China's patent-intensive industries in 2018 reached 10.71 trillion yuan (about US$1.51 trillion), contributing 11.6 percent to its gross domestic product.

In 2019, the nation's box offices grossed 64.3 billion yuan, nearly 20 times that of 2007. The total trade of China's IP royalties last year increased nearly five times from 2007, reaching US$41 billion, Shen added.

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IP protection has improved the business environment. According to Shen, in a survey on social satisfaction of IP protection in China last year, the result hit a record high of 78.98 out of 100 points.

Also on Thursday, an official said the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances will enter into force for its 30 contracting parties on April 28.

The Beijing Treaty, adopted by member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2012, aims to deal with the intellectual property rights of performers in audiovisual performances, said Yu Cike, director of the copyright management department under the National Copyright Administration, at a press conference.

The Treaty will comprehensively improve the level of protection offered to performers by the international community and promote the development of the audiovisual industry, Yu said.

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Francis Gurry, director general of the WIPO, said the Treaty strengthens the rights of audiovisual performers and promotes the economic sustainability of the audiovisual industry. 

According to the Global Innovation Index 2019 by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China moved up to 14th place globally, and ranked first among world's mid-income economies.