Organized by the Information Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province, a press conference was held on April 24 in Guangzhou to release a white paper titled "Intellectual Property Rights Protection in Guangdong, China, in 2025". Twenty-nine consular officials from 21 consulates-general in Guangzhou attended the conference.
According to the white paper, Guangdong has maintained its top national ranking in comprehensive regional innovation capability for nine consecutive years and in the IP regional development index for 13 years. Notably, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster has claimed the top spot on the World Intellectual Property Organization's "Ranking of World's Top 100 Innovation Clusters" for the first time, highlighting Guangdong's leading role in China's IP sector.
Guangdong's IP indicators lead the nation.
According to the white paper, Guangdong ranked first nationwide in 2025 in key indicators including high-value invention patents, PCT international patent applications, and valid registered trademarks, providing strong support for high-quality development.
Guangdong saw 43,200 new high-value invention patents in 2025, bringing the cumulative total to 410,900. The province also recorded 27,000 new PCT international patent applications, raising the cumulative total to 331,600.
In trademark registration, 709,900 new registrations were recorded, with valid registered trademarks reaching 9,555,200—all at the national forefront. At the 25th China Patent Award, Guangdong secured 226 awards, including 12 gold awards, the most in the country.
The province's total copyright registrations reached 375,900, with computer software copyright registrations accounting for 10% of the national total. Additionally, four new geographical indication (GI) products were approved, bringing the provincial total to 226.
Full-chain IP protection works in practice.
Guangdong has effectively established a comprehensive IP protection framework characterized by "strict, comprehensive, fast, and equal protection". Provincial departments have worked in close coordination to deliver tangible results across the full IP protection chain.
On the judicial front, the province approved the arrest of 2,198 individuals in 1,446 IP infringement cases, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%, and prosecuted 3,095 individuals in 1,753 cases. Meanwhile, 2,218 IP criminal cases were handled, representing a 9.86% year-on-year increase with continuous improvement in case investigation quality.
On the administrative enforcement front, the provincial market regulatory system handled 3,989 IP cases involving over 103 million yuan, with 186 cases transferred to judicial authorities. Patent infringement administrative adjudication cases reached 1,344. Copyright authorities dispatched over 26,000 law enforcement personnel, inspected nearly 9,000 venues, and handled 383 cases.
On the customs front, Guangdong customs authorities seized 15.31 million items of suspected infringing goods valued at 150 million yuan. In three joint operations with Hong Kong and Macao customs, Guangdong seized 1,664 batches of suspected infringing goods, totaling 3.053 million items, effectively cracking down on cross-border IP violations.
Open collaboration promotes global compliance.
Guangdong has actively engaged in cross-regional and international IP exchange and cooperation. The province has strengthened collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and deepened IP cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao, promoting the cross-border commercialization and application of IP.
Guangdong has built a robust public IP service ecosystem. The province has established one provincial-level comprehensive IP public service institution and 21 municipal-level institutions. It has also built 13 Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs), six national IP information service centers at universities, 22 trademark business acceptance windows, and seven patent agency service stations. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao IP Big Data Comprehensive Services Platform (GBA IP Big Data Platform) provides free access to data queries across 15 IP categories, including global patent data.
On opening-up initiatives, Guangdong has implemented a cumulative total of 455 cooperation projects under the Guangdong-Hong Kong and Guangdong-Macao frameworks. Twenty international service agencies have been introduced to operate in the International IP Service Hall at the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, facilitating cross-border IP collaboration and commercialization.
Reporter | Xie Maishi
Photo | The Information Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province
