China Daily, 13 July 2022
On July 13, 2022, China Daily's Global Edition issued an article on the role of Chinese companies in leading the growth of patent filing in Europe.
The article states that the number of patent applications from China at the European Patent Office has more than quadrupled in the past 10 years, going from 3 percent of its patent applications in 2012 to 9 percent in 2021, according to its data.
Experts attribute the growth to the readiness of Chinese companies to invest strongly in research and development. Moreover, the focus by Chinese companies on innovation in the past 10 years has allowed China to represent a significant amount of the total filings in Europe. Industry experts quoted in the article believe this trend will likely continue and enhance the competitiveness of Chinese companies in the global market.
Looking back, an expert mentions that since the 1980s, Chinese investments in both state and privately funded R&D have increased. Data shows that compared to even 10 years ago Chinese expenditure on research and development has more than tripled. At the same time, the higher education sector has been strengthened leading to more university researchers and patent filings from universities.
Experts also mention that Chinese companies increase R&D spending year on year, and some, such as Huawei, even do so despite a significant fall in revenue in 2021.
Furthermore, the view is also that China is benefitting from the latecomer's advantage, specifically for digital communication, where it could leapfrog over the analog communication stage. It is indeed in the sector of digital communications where Chinese companies filed many patents at the European Patent Office in 2021.
Experts cite that China can be an innovation leader, but the biggest challenge will be avoiding the "Galapagos effect", where Chinese technologies are not used outside of China. Companies would therefore need to ensure their technologies can be used and adapted internationally.
Further information can be found here. (Chinese)
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