Behind the numbers: China’s next phase of IP demand

Understanding the commercial objectives of the companies driving the filing volumes will be key to accessing significant future opportunities, says Chris Li of the Beijing International Intellectual Property Convention (IIPC).

For more than two decades, scale has dominated international discussion of China’s intellectual property (IP) market. The numbers remain difficult to ignore. In 2025, China was the world’s largest source of international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, with 73,718 filings.

Applicants based in China also filed 5,636 international trademark applications through the Madrid System, down 4.9% from 2024 but still the third-highest total by origin. Collectively, these applications included 76,530 designations of Madrid System members, the highest number from any origin for the second consecutive year.

But these figures point to something more significant than filing volume alone. They reflect a growing number of Chinese companies protecting technology, brands and commercial interests across multiple markets.

Technology companies are expanding overseas operations, advanced manufacturers are becoming more deeply integrated into global supply chains, and Chinese brands are entering new consumer markets. For many Chinese companies, international IP protection is also becoming relevant earlier in their development.

As their commercial footprint broadens, so do their needs for portfolio strategy, enforcement, transactions, disputes and trusted local advice across jurisdictions.

For the global IP community, the practical question is therefore changing. The size of the Chinese market remains relevant, but increasingly so does another question: which companies are entering which markets, and what expertise will they need when they arrive?

That is where headline statistics begin to turn into identifiable business demand.

In April 2027, Beijing will host the inaugural Beijing International Intellectual Property Convention (IIPC), bringing Chinese companies with international business needs together with IP professionals from China and overseas. Its development comes at a time when understanding China’s IP market increasingly means looking beyond aggregate activity to the companies generating cross-border demand.

From filings to business demand

For international law firms, patent and trademark attorneys, and other IP advisers that have followed China for years, filing data is a starting point rather than complete market intelligence.

An opportunity becomes actionable only when it can be connected to a company, a destination market and a defined need.

Chinese companies should not be treated as a single category. Some already manage established overseas operations and substantial global portfolios. Others are entering their first regional markets, developing international brands or beginning to build formal relationships with advisers outside China.

Their requirements differ by sector, destination and stage of expansion. A technology company entering Europe may face questions around patents, freedom to operate, licensing or disputes, while a consumer brand expanding into Southeast Asia may be more focused on trademarks, enforcement and commercial arrangements.

The relevant distinction is therefore not simply whether a company is “international”, but where it is going, how far its expansion has progressed and what expertise it will require.

Those details are difficult to capture through aggregate market data. Direct engagement can reveal jurisdictions under consideration, the timing of expansion, the decision-makers involved and the areas in which outside support may be required.

It also broadens the range of people involved. Cross-border IP decisions may sit with dedicated IP teams, but they can also involve legal, innovation, commercial and senior business leaders. As IP becomes more closely connected with market entry and international growth, IP strategy increasingly forms part of a wider business decision.

A more two-way market

China and the international IP market have long been closely connected. Foreign companies entering China, and international advisers supporting them, remain an important part of that relationship.

The overseas expansion of Chinese companies is strengthening the flow in the opposite direction.

As Chinese businesses enter Europe, North America, other parts of Asia and emerging markets, they require expertise in those jurisdictions. For an international firm, the opportunity associated with a Chinese client may therefore arise in its own home market rather than in China.

At the same time, Chinese IP firms serving internationally active clients need broader relationships with overseas counterparts. A single client, transaction or dispute may require coordinated advice across several jurisdictions.

This is making cooperation between Chinese and international professional firms increasingly important alongside direct relationships between companies and advisers.

The result is a more two-way and networked market, in which the traditional idea of “China work” becomes less useful. Chinese demand may originate in China, while the resulting professional work takes place across multiple overseas markets.

Beijing as a point of connection

China’s commercial and innovation activity is distributed across multiple regions. Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou ranked first in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO’s) 2025 global innovation cluster ranking, while Beijing ranked fourth, reflecting the depth of innovation across several of the country’s major commercial centres.

For an inaugural convention, Beijing nevertheless provides a particularly concentrated point of access to that wider market. As the national capital, it brings together government and regulatory institutions, corporate headquarters, universities, research organisations, technology and innovation resources, and a substantial professional services community.

That professional depth is also reflected in IIPC’s industry network. One of the convention’s co-organisers, the Capital Intellectual Property Services Association (CIPSA), is a leading and broadly representative industry body in China’s IP services sector. According to CIPSA, its membership includes more than 80% of China’s large IP service organisations, including firms and institutions based not only in Beijing, but also in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other major cities.

Beijing therefore serves here as a point of connection rather than a geographic definition of the market. The companies and professional networks relevant to China’s next phase of cross-border IP demand are spread across the country’s major commercial and innovation centres, while the markets they are entering extend far beyond China.

Closing the information gap

One of the practical challenges in an increasingly international IP market is not a shortage of expertise, but limited visibility between demand and capability.

Chinese companies may know where they want to expand without having a clear view of which advisers combine the right jurisdictional reach, sector experience and professional capability. International firms may recognise the broader growth of Chinese outbound business but often find it difficult to identify which specific companies have defined plans and where specific needs are emerging.

Chinese professional firms face a related challenge when identifying reliable overseas partners for clients operating across multiple jurisdictions.

More information alone does not solve this problem. Effective professional relationships depend on a more specific understanding of where a company is going, what stage it has reached, what issues it expects to face and which advisers have relevant experience.

That is the context in which platforms such as IIPC can have a role. Their value should not ultimately be measured by the number of participants or introductions they can claim, but by whether they help companies and professional advisers identify relevant counterparties earlier and develop a clearer view of where real demand is emerging.

For any new industry platform, that is a more meaningful test: whether participants encounter relationships they would not otherwise have reached and leave with a better understanding of the market than they had before.

China’s IP market no longer lacks evidence of scale. The next phase will increasingly be defined by what happens behind those numbers: which Chinese companies internationalise, which markets they enter, what IP challenges follow and how efficiently the resulting demand finds the right expertise.

For global IP practitioners, paying attention to China now means following the companies behind the filings, the markets they are entering and the professional networks forming around them.

A significant source of future IP demand may be taking shape in China, but its effects will be felt across markets far beyond China’s borders.

Takeaways
•  Beijing will host inaugural IIPC in 2027
•  Capital is ‘point of access’ to wider market
•  Relationships are key to identifying demand

Chris Li is global marketing director of the Beijing International Intellectual Property Convention (IIPC). He can be contacted at licai@chgie.com