At a news conference in Guangzhou on Friday, Guangdong's top market regulator said the province had added 43,000 high-value invention patents in 2025, bringing its total to 411,000, as the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster ranked among the Global Innovation Index's top clusters for the first time.

Chen Xinlie, director of Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation, said the province's intellectual property development index had topped the national rankings for 13 consecutive years, and its overall regional innovation capacity had ranked first in China for nine consecutive years.

Patent Cooperation Treaty international applications increased by 27,000 last year, bringing Guangdong's cumulative total to 332,000. Trademark registrations rose by 710,000, bringing valid registered trademarks to 9.56 million, while computer software copyright registrations reached 327,500. Chen said all four indicators ranked first nationally.

Guangdong courts accepted 3,106 new foreign-related intellectual property cases in 2025 and concluded 2,611, accounting for roughly one-third of such cases handled nationwide, said Ou Lihua, deputy presiding judge of the Intellectual Property Tribunal of Guangdong High People's Court.

Chen said the province had broadened international cooperation over the past year, with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao region completing 455 cooperative projects and hosting events including the Greater Bay Area Intellectual Property Trade Fair. Twenty foreign service institutions have been introduced to the International Intellectual Property Service Hall in China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City.

Chen said Guangdong would continue expanding international partnerships moving forward.

Xie Ruiqi contributed to this story.