On November 6, 2020, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announced the postponement of the Chinese patent bar exam in Western China. Specifically, the exam scheduled for November 14 – 15, 2020 to be held in Urumqi in Xinjiang will be postponed due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in Shufu County and Akto County of Xinjiang. However, no new date has been announced for the Xinjiang testing site.  Other testing sites will remain open.  

Test-takers can request a refund of fees or wait until the Urumqi examination center announces a new date.  Test-takers do not appear to have the option to switch a different site for the test.

A new outbreak of COVID-19 was detected in October 2020 in Xinjiang. Per CNN, the fresh outbreak began on October 24, when a 17-year-old female tested positive “during the county’s routine nucleic acid testing, a measure introduced in August in Xinjiang to improve Covid-19 alert timeliness.” As of October 30, the total active caseload was 197 infections.