- International families
- 678k18.4% of the world
- All families
- 13.7Mhome filings included
- Taken abroad
- 5%41k triadic
- Growth
- 1.5×2020 to 2024 against the five before
Year by year
Patent families of China origin by the year of the earliest filing, 2000 to 2025; 2025 is a part year, still filling in.
Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google
Innovation and National Capability
The nine domains of the National Capability Framework, each with the capabilities in which China has the most international patent families, in the period chosen. 2025 is a part year and 2026 has barely begun. Select a capability for its page.
Hard Power
Critical Technology
185k international families
Strategic Infrastructure
179k international families
53,878
32,832
23,990
14,218
13,824
9,052
National Security
4,146 international families
Soft Power
Human Capital
43k international families
Information & Influence
11k international families
Governance & Integrity
8,239 international families
Economic Power
Financial Strength
2,528 international families
Production & Innovation
419k international families
Trade & Investment
6,371 international families
Where its patents run deepest
International patent families, 2015 to 2024, in each capability of the National Capability Framework. Share of world is China's part of every country's families in the capability. Leans sets the capability's share of China's families against its share of the world's: 2.0× means twice the world's weight. Growth compares the latest five full years with the five before.
| 2000 to 2025 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile & Wireless Networks | Strategic Infrastructure | 83,485 | 32.0% | 1 of 40 | 1.7× | 1.6× | |
| Advanced Wireless Communication | Critical Technology | 82,694 | 32.4% | 1 of 40 | 1.8× | 1.6× | |
| Manufacturing & Advanced Industry | Production & Innovation | 49,292 | 9.8% | 4 of 40 | 0.5× | 1.7× | |
| AI Tools & Applications | Strategic Infrastructure | 48,655 | 21.4% | 2 of 40 | 1.2× | 1.9× | |
| Applied AI & Advanced Analytics | Critical Technology | 44,684 | 21.6% | 2 of 40 | 1.2× | 1.7× | |
| Production Systems | Strategic Infrastructure | 40,792 | 11.4% | 3 of 40 | 0.6× | 1.3× | |
| Foundational & Process Industries | Production & Innovation | 36,011 | 11.5% | 3 of 40 | 0.6× | 1.7× | |
| Physical Health & Longevity | Human Capital | 32,383 | 15.8% | 2 of 40 | 0.9× | 2.2× | |
| Service Delivery & Coverage | Human Capital | 26,886 | 10.3% | 3 of 40 | 0.6× | 1.5× | |
| Core & Backbone Networks | Strategic Infrastructure | 26,166 | 25.7% | 2 of 40 | 1.4× | 1.1× | |
| Batteries & Energy Storage | Critical Technology | 25,896 | 21.8% | 3 of 40 | 1.2× | 4.4× | |
| Data Resources | Strategic Infrastructure | 23,945 | 26.0% | 2 of 40 | 1.4× | 1.3× | |
| Machine Learning & Foundation Models | Critical Technology | 20,768 | 19.3% | 2 of 40 | 1.0× | 3.3× | |
| Advanced Semiconductor Fabrication | Critical Technology | 15,776 | 11.3% | 5 of 40 | 0.6× | 1.5× | |
| Protective Cybersecurity Technologies | Critical Technology | 15,698 | 20.1% | 2 of 40 | 1.1× | 1.2× | |
| Agrifood & Primary Production | Production & Innovation | 15,613 | 12.2% | 3 of 40 | 0.7× | 1.5× | |
| Data Centres, Compute & Cloud | Strategic Infrastructure | 14,719 | 21.3% | 2 of 40 | 1.2× | 1.5× | |
| Synthetic Biology & Genetic Engineering | Critical Technology | 14,103 | 19.0% | 2 of 40 | 1.0× | 2.6× | |
| Privacy, Identity & Trust Technologies | Critical Technology | 13,819 | 19.5% | 2 of 40 | 1.1× | 1.0× | |
| International Media & Broadcasting | Information & Influence | 11,427 | 26.2% | 1 of 40 | 1.4× | 1.2× | |
| Chemicals & Hazardous Process Industry | Strategic Infrastructure | 11,408 | 15.4% | 3 of 40 | 0.8× | 1.7× | |
| Policing & Law Enforcement | Governance & Integrity | 11,355 | 20.1% | 2 of 40 | 1.1× | 0.8× | |
| Advanced Therapeutics, Vaccines & Medical Countermeasures | Critical Technology | 11,223 | 14.7% | 2 of 40 | 0.8× | 3.2× | |
| Digital Economy Adoption | Production & Innovation | 10,966 | 14.9% | 3 of 40 | 0.8× | 1.2× | |
| Biomanufacturing | Critical Technology | 10,048 | 14.1% | 2 of 40 | 0.8× | 2.2× |
By domain and applicant
International patent families, 2015 to 2024. A family counts once in each domain it reaches.
Domains of the framework
Strategic Infrastructure
Critical Technology
Human Capital
Information & Influence
Governance & Integrity
Trade & Investment
National Security
Financial Strength
285,858
277,919
64,591
19,386
16,257
10,545
6,391
5,786
Largest applicants
HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO LTD
ZTE CORP
GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP LTD
BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO LTD
VIVO MOBILE COMMUNICATION CO LTD
OPPO GUANGDONG MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CO LTD
CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO LTD
NINGDE CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECH CO LTD
TENCENT TECH SHENZHEN CO LTD
61,142
24,512
19,030
14,481
10,528
9,112
8,920
8,506
7,933
6,054