China is ramping up legal protections for data intellectual property (IP), spotlighting its strategic role in the digital economy as officials revealed massive national data output at the 14th China Intellectual Property Annual Conference in Beijing.
Themed “IP in the Digital Age,” the two-day event brought together over 160 domestic and international guests and 8,000 participants to explore topics ranging from AI and biomedicines to integrated circuits, private sector growth, global enterprise expansion and cross-border IP protection. The conference features more than 30 events tailored for global innovators, scholars and IP service providers.
As data emerges as a new production factor and strategic resource, its integration across industries is reshaping productivity at an unprecedented pace. In response, the conference placed strong emphasis on strengthening data IP protections to support innovation and secure the foundations of the digital economy.
According to data released at the conference, in 2024, China’s total data production reached 41.06 zettabytes (ZB), accounting for 26.67 percent of the global total. This volume of data is equivalent to producing over 13 million high-complexity 3D animated films such as “Ne Zha 2.”
Additionally, the added value of core industries in the digital economy accounted for over 10 percent of the country’s GDP in 2024, with the national data market transaction volume exceeding 160 billion yuan (about $22.4 billion).
“The advent of the digital age presents new challenges for the innovation and transformation of the intellectual property system. We will actively build a system that better adapts to the needs of the information-based, digital, networked and intelligent era,” said Hu Wenhui, deputy commissioner of the China National Intellectual Property Administration.
“This will help better leverage the dual role of intellectual property in providing both institutional and technological support, create new advantages for sci-tech innovation and industrial competition, and serve the high-quality economic development,” Hu said.
In this regard, the National Intellectual Property Administration proposed that the objects of data intellectual property rights protection are data sets obtained legally and in compliance with regulations, and processed according to certain rules, which possess practical value and intellectual achievement attributes, or data products generated from them.
Clarifying which data objects should be protected through an approach that combines data and rules, would stimulate innovation vitality and promote the circulation of data transactions, according to the administration.
Since July 2021, the administration has launched data intellectual property pilot programs in two batches across 17 provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang Province.
As of June 2025, a total of 58,000 data intellectual property registration applications had been processed nationwide, and nearly 30,000 registration certificates had been issued. Over 90 percent of the registrations were submitted by enterprises.
The cumulative financing and credit enhancement amount for data intellectual property had exceeded 10 billion yuan, with transaction licensing amount surpassing 580 million yuan and securitization amount exceeding 200 million yuan.
“Currently, registered data covers 83 out of the 97 major categories of national economic industries. Among them, the top three sectors by registration volume are information transmission, software and information technology services, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail industries, collectively accounting for over 50 percent of the registrations,” said Liang Xinxin, director of the Strategic Planning Department of China National Intellectual Property Administration.
