Recent data from the State Council Information Office's series of press conferences on the "15th Five-Year Plan" startup phase reveals that as of June this year, China's high-value invention patents reached 2.36 million, with 16.8 high-value invention patents per 10,000 people. Domestically, 574,000 enterprises hold valid invention patents, accounting for 4.254 million patents, or 74.8 percent of the national total. These figures underscore a steady improvement in the quality of intellectual property creation, a continuous surge in the intrinsic momentum of corporate innovation, and a notable enhancement in innovation capabilities across key sectors, alongside a significant strengthening of international competitiveness in IP.

The dual trends of "two increases and two strengths" reflect a profound shift in China's intellectual property development model. This transformation is primarily evident in the evolution of development logic. While patent counts serve as an indicator of innovation activity, they do not inherently equate to innovation capacity, let alone economic competitiveness. The transition from pursuing scale to emphasizing quality, structure, and efficiency represents a move from factor-driven growth to innovation-efficiency-driven growth, aligning with the requirements of high-quality development. The "15th Five-Year Plan" outline continues to include high-value invention patents per 10,000 people as a key national economic and social development indicator, setting a target of over 22 patents—an increase of more than six from the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period—to channel innovation resources toward critical fields and high-caliber outcomes, achieving both qualitative enhancement and quantitative growth.

Intellectual property serves as a strategic resource for national development, a core element of international competitiveness, and a foundational institution supporting comprehensive innovation. The IP system transforms intangible outcomes such as knowledge and technology into protectable, tradable assets by defining clear rights boundaries. It ensures innovators receive reasonable returns, fostering stable expectations for long-term investment, and facilitates the efficient allocation of innovation factors through licensing, transfer, and financing mechanisms. Developing new quality productive forces requires both a steady stream of original innovation and the seamless integration of innovative outcomes into the industrial system. Intellectual property, bridging innovation and the market, acts as a critical link in the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation.

The fact that corporate valid invention patents account for 74.8 percent of the national total underscores the further consolidation of enterprises as the primary innovators. This shift is not merely a change in patent ownership structure but also indicates a closer alignment between innovation activities, market demands, and industrial practice. Enterprises, situated at the crossroads of R&D, production, and competition, are best positioned to identify needs, test technologies, and realize value. As enterprises take on the role of primary innovators, this helps address the disconnect between scientific research and industry, fostering the integration of innovation, industrial, capital, and talent chains. However, this primary position extends beyond patent share and must further manifest in original innovation capacity, industrialization capabilities, and international competitiveness.

Effective protection is a fundamental prerequisite for the intellectual property system to function. To date, China has established 83 national-level IP protection centers and 54 rapid rights enforcement centers, with coverage extending across all strategic emerging industries and expanding into future industries. The integration of rapid pre-examination, expedited rights confirmation, and swift enforcement helps align protection speed with the pace of technological iteration, reducing innovation uncertainty. It must also be recognized that IP protection aims to promote innovation and fair competition, not to absolutize exclusive rights. Insufficient protection weakens innovation incentives, while imbalanced protection may hinder knowledge dissemination and follow-on innovation. Maintaining a reasonable balance among right holders' interests, market competition, and public welfare has become a key focus of current IP protection efforts.

Industrialization capacity ultimately hinges on the effectiveness of transformation and application. Patents do not automatically transition from rights to value creation. Since the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China has accelerated patent transformation and application, establishing a preliminary long-term mechanism. In the first half of this year, patent and trademark pledge financing benefited over 19,000 enterprises nationwide, indicating that IP is accelerating its conversion from rights certificates to production factors, with smoother circulation among technology, capital, and industry. However, some universities and research institutions still face challenges such as weak supply-demand alignment and inaccurate value assessment. Enhancing supply-demand matching and professional operational capabilities essentially aims to reduce the institutional costs of innovation factor mobility, enabling more patents to move "from the bookshelf to the shelf."

Intellectual property also serves as an important institutional tool for global competition. In the first half of this year, Chinese applicants maintained leading positions globally in international filings through the PCT, Hague, and Madrid systems. In the first five months, IP royalty export revenue reached 45.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 64.9 percent. This demonstrates that China's competitive advantages are shifting from products and cost to technology, brand, and rule advantages. The enhancement of IP international competitiveness depends not only on enterprises' overseas layout capabilities but also on China's continuously improving capacity for participation in global IP governance.

Ultimately, the effectiveness of intellectual property work should be assessed by whether it promotes high-level innovation, improves resource allocation efficiency, and creates new industrial competitive advantages. Only by integrating the entire chain—creation, application, protection, management, services, and international cooperation—can intangible assets be converted into tangible wealth for high-quality development, providing sustained and robust institutional support for nurturing new quality productive forces.