On March 7, 2023, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) and Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) submitted their 5-Year Work Reports to the National People’s Congress. Zhou Qiang, president of the SPC, stated that courts across the country intensified IP protection of key technologies and emerging and major industries. Procurator-General Zhang Jun stated that offices specializing in tackling IP cases have been established in procuratorial agencies in 29 provincial-level regions.

With respect to IP, the SPC’s report stated  data showed that courts of first instance across the country concluded more than 2.19 million IP cases between 2018 and 2022, up 221.1 percent compared with the previous five-year period and the amount of compensation awarded in IP infringement cases in 2022 rose by 153 percent compared with 2018.  Over the past five years, an IP court was established at the Hainan Free Trade Port in Hainan province, adding to three such courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province. The four courts were set up to handle the rising number of IP cases.

With respect to IP, the SPP’s report stated prosecutors worked with the China National Intellectual Property Administration and the National Copyright Administration to jointly solve major or influential IP cases.  Data showed that 13,000 offenders were prosecuted in 2022 over breaches of trademarks, patents, copyrights and business secrets, a 51.2 percent rise from 2018.

The SPC’s report is available here (Chinese only).