From January to April 2026, there have been 295,178 invention patents granted in China, a year-on-year increase of 10.16%. The number of utility model patent grants was 433,388, down 18.38% year-on-year, and the number of design patent grants reached 239,618, up 9.49% year-on-year. The total patents granted across the three categories numbered 968,184, a decrease of 4.87% year-on-year.

According to the monthly report published by the CNIPA — specifically the statistical table of domestic patent grants by patentee type —the number of invention patent grants from January to April 2026 compared with the same period last year was as follows: higher education institutions, research institutions, enterprises respectively increased by 49.72%, 38.39% and 3.44% year-on-year, however, public institutions and individuals respectively decreased by 1.63% and 66.38% year-on-year.

According to the monthly report published by the CNIPA — specifically the statistical table of domestic patent grants by patentee type —the number of utility model patent grants from January to April 2026 compared with the same period last year was as follows: higher education institutions decreased by 8.09%, research institutions increased by 10.26%, enterprises, public institutions and individuals respectively dropped by 18.19%, 29.22%, 30.50% year-on-year.

According to the CNIPA monthly report — specifically the statistical table of domestic patent grants by patentee type —the number of industrial design patent granted from January to April 2026 saw across-the-board year-on-year growth: higher education institutions, research institutions, enterprises, public institutions and individuals respectively increased by 47.49%，4.22%，11.11%，49.59% and 0.89% year-on-year.

From China Council for the Promotion of International Trade

May 20th, 2026