Beijing says Chinese patents to double in five years, with focus on agriculture

Beijing has set a bold agenda to double the number of Chinese patent applications in the next five years as the country sees them as rungs on the ladder to becoming an innovation superpower.

The number of patent applications is expected to reach 14 per 10,000 habitants by 2020, compared with six this year and four in 2013. Average vetting time for invention patents will come down to 20 days by 2020, from 21.7 days this year and 22.3 days in 2013, a statement posted on the central government's website yesterday said.

Improving the country's agricultural technologies, especially in grain production, is a major priority during the period, along with having more globally competitive enterprises with overseas patents.

"We encourage more cooperation between seed companies and research centres, allowing them to build a trading platform to transfer the patents and lifting the value of intellectual property in agricultural technology," the government said.

It did not elaborate on potential subsidies or other incentives to achieve the goal.

The announcement comes after the easing of curbs on importing genetically-modified corn from the United States, with the two countries reaching an agreement in trade talks last month that would lift a ban on certain varieties of genetically modified organisms, which had been approved by the US but not by China.