China wants to be a ‘powerful intellectual property nation’ by 2035 amid tech race with the US

China has taken a new step towards its strategic goal of technological self-reliance, unveiling a bold plan to become a global leader in intellectual property (IP) protection by 2035 amid a protracted tech war with the US.

In a blueprint titled Guidelines for Building a Powerful Intellectual Property Nation (2021-2035) published on Wednesday, leaders said that by 2025, they want “patent-intensive industries” and the copyright industry to account for 13 per cent and 7.5 per cent of China’s GDP respectively.

The plan, released by the State Council and Central Committee of the Communist Party, also said that China’s export and import of intellectual property rights should reach 350 billion yuan (US$54 billion) by 2025, with the number of “high-value” patents increasing to 12 for every 10,000 people in the country.

The guidelines said that by 2035, China’s competitiveness in intellectual property should be “among the top in the world”, with the country actively participating in the “global governance of intellectual property rights”.

To achieve its goal, China will speed up legislative efforts to protect intellectual property of new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and genetic technology, according to the blueprint.

Beijing is determined to promote patent applications and copyright registrations among domestic businesses because the global trade of services will be growing at a much faster rate than the trade of goods, according to Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank (China).

“If [China’s] IP industry is not developing well, the globalisation of the country’s services and digital trade will be hindered and conflicts between China and the US will be more likely,” said Wang.