China is working to further enhance the efficiency of its patent application review process, with the goal of reducing the examination time to 15.5 months this year.

The target was revealed by China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the country's top IP regulator, in its recently issued annual work guidelines. The processing time in 2023 was 16 months, making it one of the most efficient in the world.

The average period spent reviewing a trademark application remained at four months.

The improvement of patent examination efficiency has been a crucial focus in China's IP endeavors in recent years. The newly revised rules for the implementation of the Patent Law, which came into effect in January, encompassed several new measures aimed at enhancing the patent examination system and improving the quality of patent review.

To support the development of these emerging industries, the IP regulator also highlighted the task of improving the patent examination standards in fields such as big data, artificial intelligence and gene technologies this year, and planned to strengthen its efforts in expanding the scope of the review.

In 2023, a total of 921,000 invention patents were authorized in China. The examination accuracy rate reached 94.2 percent, according to Shen Changyu, head of the CNIPA.

China will continue to improve patent examination standards in new fields and new forms of industry to facilitate patent grants of green and low-carbon technologies and future industries, Shen said late last year.