According to the Report on National Patent Strength of 2016 released by the State Intellectual Property Office, the comprehensive strength of intellectual property rights steadily improved nationwide during the past year.

The report shows, in 2016, Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanghai, Hunan, Chongqing, Anhui and Sichuan ranked in the Top 10 provincial regions for overall strength of intellectual property rights.

The pilot provinces to build a strong patent mechanism presented a favorable momentum to promote patent administration work in other areas, with Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Sichuan taking the lead as models.

Among other pilot provinces, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Fujian and Henan performed outstandingly well in patent creation, utilization, management and service; Guangxi, Gansu and Jiangxi made great progress in patent protection and management.

The report evaluated the comprehensive strength of intellectual property rights of 31 provincial-level administrative regions from five aspects, including patent creation, utilization, protection, management and service. This was the first time an evaluation of this kind was made across China.