A woman purchases products at a POP MART store in London, Britain, on May 21, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

China has established partnerships with over 80 countries and regions in intellectual property (IP) cooperation, the country's top IP official said on Thursday.

Shen Changyu, head of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), said this at a press conference on China's IP achievements during the 14th five-year plan period (2021-2025).

The China-EU agreement on geographical indications (GIs) has come into force, realizing the mutual recognition and protection of the first group of listed products, Shen said, adding that China has successfully acceded to the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs.

CNIPA Deputy Commissioner Hu Wenhui noted that the administration treats domestic and foreign enterprises equally in terms of IP protection. In the first half of the year, foreign applicants filed 94,000 trademark applications in China -- a year-on-year increase of 7.4 percent, with significant growth of over 20 percent in applications from Germany, Italy and the United States, Hu said.

He added that the CNIPA accepted 74 GI protection applications for products from Burgundy, which is a renowned wine-producing region in France, in the first half of the year.

Hu noted that the CNIPA is continuously improving the quality and efficiency of its patent and trademark examinations. "To date, we have established 128 national-level IP protection centers and rapid-response rights protection centers, which have registered over 8,000 foreign-funded and joint venture enterprises. These companies enjoy the same professional services and preferential policies as their domestic counterparts."

"While safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of foreign enterprises, we have enhanced IP safeguards for Chinese enterprises engaging in global expansion," Hu said, noting that the CNIPA has improved China's foreign-related IP regulations, early-risk-warning mechanisms and risk response guidance.

By the end of 2024, the CNIPA had provided a total of 2,393 guidance services and 6,885 advisory consultations to domestic enterprises, helping them reduce litigation costs by 1.32 billion yuan (about 184.7 million U.S. dollars) and recover economic losses amounting to 38.04 billion yuan, he said.