Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) issued the "Statistical Bulletin on National Economic and Social Development in 2018". It is noted that in 2018, the R&D expenditure in China was 1.9657 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.6% over the previous year, exceeding the average of the 15 EU countries. The number of domestic and foreign patent applications was 4.323 million, up 16.9%, and the number of patents granted was 2.447 million, up 33.3%, both of which ranked first in the world. It’s more obvious for science and technology to be “the first drive” for innovation-driven development in the country.

According to the bulletin, 55,000 PCT international patent applications were accepted by China last year; as of the end of 2018, there were 8.381 million effective patents in China, and 11.5 invention patents per 10,000 population; totally 412,000 technology contracts were signed with the turnover of 1,769.7 billion yuan, an increase of 31.8% over the previous year.

(Source: China National Intellectual Property Strategy Network)