According to recently released statistics from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) Chinese trademark registrations were down 29% in 2023 versus 2022. That equates to a decrease of 1.7945 million trademark registrations year-on-year. Foreigners registered 3.1% of the trademarks up from 2.9% in 2022 but a decrease in absolute numbers of 40,696 registrations from 2022 for 134,776 registrations. 

CNIPA did not provide any reasoning for the drop in trademark grants but several factors may be at play including the crackdown of malicious trademark applications, a slowing economy (trademark filings may be considered a leading economic indicator) and the end of lockdowns in the fourth quarter of 2022 (leading to a wave of COVID-19 infections and therefore potentially slowing filing and examination of trademark applications due to worker absence). Note that Hu Wenhui, Deputy Commissioner of CNIPA, stated that CNIPA “cracked down on a total of 249,000 malicious registrations of trademarks” in 2023 H1  meaning the crackdown may be the most likely factor indicating a shift from quantity to quality in trademarks as what is happening with patents.

The full statistics are available here: 2023AnnualStats (Chinese only).