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China has emerged as the third-largest source of patent applications at the European Patent Office for the first time last year.
Chinese companies submitted 22,031 patent applications in the past year, marking a 9.7% increase from the previous year. This growth significantly outpaced the overall global rate of 1.4%, leading to China’s share rising from 10.1% to 10.9%.
This shift underscores a long-term trend of Chinese enterprises and innovators increasingly seeking patent protection in Europe. The number of applications from China has tripled since 2016, when it was just over 7,000, with many years experiencing double-digit growth, according to recent data.
Applicants from China are placing greater emphasis on international intellectual property rights, with more than 22% of granted European patents from Chinese entities choosing unitary patent protection last year. This is an increase from 17.8% the year before.
Among the IP5 countries, Chinese patentees claimed the second-largest share of unitary patents, trailing only the European Patent Office member states, and surpassing the United States, South Korea, and Japan. This trend indicates a shift by Chinese firms toward more integrated participation in the European market.
Driving this growth are key sectors such as digital communication, electrical machinery, energy—including batteries—and computer technology, all crucial to global technological transitions like connectivity, electrification, and artificial intelligence. Nearly half of Chinese patent applications in Europe fall into these categories.
Chinese applicants are focusing heavily on fast-growing, R&D-intensive fields. Applications in transportation increased by 31.2%, while semiconductors grew by 30.3%, illustrating an expansion beyond traditional areas of innovation.
Major Chinese corporations have been instrumental in shaping patent trends. Huawei ranks second worldwide in patent filings, while companies like Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), Xiaomi, ZTE, and Oppo are also among the top filers.
The growth is largely driven by large, internationally active firms committed to sustained R&D efforts. Huawei alone accounts for over 20% of all Chinese patent applications, with CATL, Xiaomi, and Oppo experiencing double-digit increases.
The top six Chinese companies among the leading applicants at the European Patent Office demonstrate the scale, consistency, and global focus of their R&D and patenting strategies. Their filings predominantly target high-value, R&D-intensive tech sectors such as digital communications, batteries, computing, and semiconductors, emphasizing long-term investments over short-term gains.
This strong performance indicates that China’s corporate innovation capacity is now broad-based, supported by a wide range of globally competitive firms that increasingly utilize the European patent system to safeguard technologies for international markets.
China’s patent grants from the European Patent Office surged by 32.8% in 2025 compared to the previous year. This decade-long growth reflects ongoing investments in strategic technologies, robust corporate R&D, and the development of a more mature and geographically diverse innovation ecosystem.
While leading innovation hubs like Guangdong, Shenzhen, and Beijing continue to play a major role, inland provinces such as Fujian, Hubei, and Sichuan have experienced the fastest growth, signaling a broadening R&D landscape across the country.
Overall, the data highlights that China’s sustained growth in patent filings is driven by long-term technological investments, the global ambitions of major companies, and the evolution of a more mature, geographically dispersed innovation ecosystem.
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