China filed 58,990 applications in 2019 via WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) System, comparing with the U.S. 57,840 applications. The U.S. held the top position each year since the PCT began operations in 1978.

In 1999, WIPO received 276 applications from China. By 2019, that number rose to 58,990 – a 200-fold increase in only twenty years.

Asia-based applicants now account for more than half of all PCT applications (52.4%) while Europe (23.2%) and North America (22.8%) accounted for less than a quarter each.

In 2019, the top five users of the PCT were: China (58,990 PCT applications), the U.S (57,840), Japan (52,660), Germany (19,353) and the Republic of Korea (19,085).

Among the top 15 origins, Turkey (+46.7%), the Republic of Korea (+12.8%), Canada (+12.2%) and China (+10.6%) recorded double-digit annual growth in 2019. The strong growth for Turkey moved it up in the top 15 rank for the first time.

Among the top 15 origins, Germany (-2%) and the Netherlands (-3%) are the only two origins to report a decrease in filings.

International patent applications filed via the PCT grew by 5.2% (265,800 applications) in 2019, while international trademark applications via the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks increased by 5.7% (64,400 applications).

For the third consecutive year, China-based telecoms giant Huawei Technologies, with 4,411 published PCT applications, was the top corporate filer in 2019. It was followed by:

• Mitsubishi Electric Corp. of Japan (2,661);
• Samsung Electronics of the Republic of Korea (2,334;
• Qualcomm Inc. of the U.S. (2,127); and
• Guang Dong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications of China (1,927).

The top 10 applicant list comprises four companies from China, two from the Republic of Korea, and one each from Germany, Japan, Sweden and the U.S.. The top 10-university list comprises five universities from the U.S., four from China and one from the Republic of Korea.

International Patent Applications by Country

International trademark system (Madrid System)

Trademark owners filed a record 3,693 cases under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) with WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Center, while WIPO’s two-dozen plus treaties gained 55 new accessions or ratifications in 2019 and preliminary financial results showed an approximate surplus of 97.5 million Swiss francs.

U.S.-based applicants (10,087) filed the largest number of international trademark applications using WIPO’s Madrid System in 2019, followed by those located in Germany (7,700), China (6,339), France (4,437) and Switzerland (3,729).

L’Oréal of France with 189 applications headed the list of top filers, followed by Novartis AG of Switzerland (135), Huawei Technologies of China (131), Nirsan Connect Private Limited of India (124) and Rigo Trading of Luxembourg (103).

For the first time, applicants from China and India are among the top five applicants.

Protection for industrial designs via the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs saw a 10.4% growth (21,807 designs), capping another record-setting year for WIPO’s global IP services.

About WIPO

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation. A specialized agency of the United Nations, WIPO assists its 193 member states in developing a balanced international IP legal framework to meet society’s evolving needs.

China is expected to invest up to twice as much as the US, or US$658 billion (4.5 trillion yuan) in another five years, in the back end of R&D chain, focusing on translating basic and applied research into commercial products and new manufacturing processes according to BCG.

Contributions by the private sector account for 34% of university R&D budgets in China while companies contribute less than 5% in the US. About 38% of published research in China focuses on engineering, comparing with 11% in the US.

Development accounts for 84% of China’s total R&D spending. And, China’s spending on development rose by a compound annual growth rate of around 20% over the past decade, compared with 5% in the US. In 2003, the US spent four times as much as China on development research; in 2013, the two nations spent roughly equal amounts.

China GDP grew faster than expected in Q1 2017

There are 2,397 billionaires in the world, which represents a 3.1% decline in billionaire population in 2016, the first annual decrease since the global financial crisis according to Billionaire Census 2017 by Wealth-X.

The report reveals that 283 individuals (more than 10% of total billionaires) lost their billionaire status in 2016, and 207 new billionaires emerged to join this exclusive wealth tier.

The top 5 countries in the world by the total number of billionaires are the United States, China, Germany, Russia, and the UK.

China has 249 billionaires, a decrease of 4.2%; the total wealth dropped by 0.7% to US$670 billion. And, about 1/3 of Chinese billionaires are under age 50.

Also read: China’s HNWI outbound tourism trends in 2016

Ever wondering which is the largest if you compare online sales on Cyber Monday in the west with that on China’s largest online shopping day Double 11? Let this inforgraphic tells you.

The last quarter of year is the busy shopping season, especially online. In the west, Cyber Monday is the sole focus of driving online sales after the Thanksgiving since 2005. In China, Double 11 (Dec 11), Double 12 (Dec 12th) and starting this year Black Friday online promotions are all important campaigns for e-tailers in China, Double 11 being the largest. The infographic below compares Cyber Monday sales with Alibaba’s Double 11 sales:

Continue reading: the details of Double 11 2015 and Top Tmall Stores on Double 11 2015 or statistics on Double 11 / Singles Day 2016 here

35% of China’s online shopping consumers bought cross-border products online in 2015, and 73% respondants said the price was the main reason for cross-border shopping according to PayPal and Ipsos research.

35% Chinese online shoppers once purchased cross-border products online in 2015 compared to 26% last year. The cross-border online shopper was expected to reach 35.6 million by 2018 and total 1 trillion yuan (US$o.16 trillion) according to Chinese Commerce Research Center.

Price and shipping fees are major concerns of Chinese cross-border online shoppers. 73% respondents said buying cross-border products online are sometimes much cheaper than in online stores and shopping malls according to PayPal. Shipping charges influenced orders to some large extent that nearly half wouldn’t buy cross-border products online due to high shipping costs and the other half were willing to try cross-border shopping if free shipping was offered.

Chinese consumers are willing to buy clothes, digital products, skin-care products, infant formula, health care products and the other online. 73% were used to purchase health care products from overseas market online according to Mintel, and 57% urban consumers believed imported health care products more versatile. 56% believed imported products are more credible with higher quality.

America, South Korea, Japan and some European countries were major cross-border online shopping destinations for the Chinese.

Also read: China Online Shoppers to Spend $150 Billion in Holiday Season 2015

China is the world’s largest outbound tourism market and consumption market. Basing on the report initiated by China and surveyed by the World Urban Tourism Federation (WTCF), a total of 109 million Chinese person-trips visited foreign countries in 2014, among which the ratio of women was higher than men by 17 percentage points. The post-80s favored overseas tourism most, accounting for nearly 45%.

China is the world’s largest outbound tourism market and consumption market. In 2014, the number of Chinese outbound tourists reached 109 million person-trips, a YoY increase of 11% accounting for 9.58% of the total international tourists. Total Chinese outbound tourism consumption reached US$165 billion, an increase of 28% accounting for 11% of the total international tourism revenues.

Women tourists accounted for 58.5% of all Chinese outbound tourists, higher than men. The largest age group was the post-80s whose ratio was as high as 44.89%; the post-70s ranked second, accounting for 25.72%; and followed by the post-90s (11.39%), post-60s (9.97%) and post-50s (8.04%).

The post-80s and post-70s became the main groups of Chinese outbound tourists, accounting for more than 70%, which is mainly due to their higher education background and the majority got married traveling with minor children and elder parents.

Over the past year, Chinese short-distance tourists were mainly the post-80s and post-90s, accounting for more than 60% of the total; most of them were single or married with no children or children under the age of 10; their average household monthly income was 18,233 yuan (US$2,858.82) and the individual average income is 9,531 yuan (US$1,495.22), lower than the overall level.

Their favorite short-distance tour destinations are all located in East Asia and Southeast Asia, including five cities in Japan, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe, and Nara; three cities in South Korea, Seoul, Jeju, Inchon; and followed by Bangkok and Singapore.

Improving visa policies, including lowering the threshold, simplifying procedures and shortening the processing time, are expected by most Chinese outbound tourists. And, shopping has beocme a routine for overseas tourists.

Also read: Tmall Will Launch the Global Duty-free Shop Project in China

GBTA expects China to continue to grow its domestic business travel market much more rapidly than the other countries in the world with estimated spending growth of 14.2% in 2015 and 12.1% in 2016. China is poised to overtake the U.S. as the number one business travel market in the world.

According to the report of GBTA, China is to surpass the U.S. in spending by 2017 considering their current and estimated growth in business travel market.

China’s economic growth projections in the near term remain robust, which bode well for a strong business travel market, growing more rapidly than the other major markets globally,

said Stanford Lin, Vice President and Head of Products at Visa China.

Visa is committed to working with financial institutions and merchant partners to offer value-add benefits that help companies and business travelers better manage their travel expenses.

Outbound tourism is popular among Chinese travelers. Some European airlines promote cheap tickets to attract travelers to Europe according to CNN’s report.

Japan has also added some special travel trains with delicious food supply to attract travelers. Besides, Japan’s luxury train can provide luxury goods and food to stimulate travelers’ consumption home and abroad according to Nikkei Asian Review. Shoppers from China spent 18% more on Tax Free Shopping in 2014 compared to 2013 according to Global Blue.

Australia is the top luxury travel destination, followed by France. Maldives shoots into third place. UK back into the Top 10.

China has been the largest market for Germany’s domestic travel in Asian. During Chinese year period, German’s merchants promoted various events to attract Chinese travelers. See more about Chinese New Year Traveler Insights here.

Oxford research report shows China and other new markets will promote global travel industry into a prosperous stage in 10 years.

Also read: China Inbound Travelers in 2014

According to data from China Tourism Academy, total revenue generated from China inbound tourism market reached $51.646 billion with an increase of 3.27% year on year, ranking 4th in the world, following America, France and Spain in 2013.

In 2013, top 10 countries by foreign travelers were South Korea, Japan, Russia, America, Vietnam, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore and Australia.

Also read: Chinese New Year Traveler Insights 2015

More and more Chinese travelers tend to spend their vacation in foreign countries, and the U.S is one popular destination for them. In terms of the number of entries and consumption of Chinese travelers in the U.S, Brandusa estimates China is going to be the largest inbound tourism market for the U.S in 2018. 

At present, China is the 7th inbound tourism market for the US, and Canada ranks top by the number of entries and consumption in the U.S.

China outbound tourists on average spent RMB 20,000 (US$3,252) during travel per person according to a report released at Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit.

In 2013, the number of Chinese travelers to the U.S exceeded 1.8 million with an increase of 22.5% from the same period of 2012 according to data of the U.S commerce department. In addition to the larger number of Chinese travelers in the U.S, their total spend exceeded us$9.8 billion and average spend was near US$5,400, which was 21% more than other travelers from other countries in 2013. Besides transportation, the major spend was shopping and catering in the U.S among Chinese travelers.

Chris Thompson, the CEO of Brandusa said, “Chinese travelers stay in the U.S for the longest time (average 7 to 13 days), longer than any other foreign travelers.” 46% of Chinese travelers would make California the first place to visit while 33% of them chose New York for the first according to the research of Brandusa.

With China’s large population, life quality improvement as well as the rise of personal income, Chinese travelers’ need for outbound travel will be stronger than ever. 60% of Chinese respondents would list the U.S as one of their traveling destinations and 59% of respondents will plan to visit the U.S within one year according to the research of Brandusa.

Thompson estimated that the number of Chinese travelers to the U.S will be larger with convenience of outbound tourism as well as powerful marketing of travel agencies and airlines.

From 2013 to 2019, the compound growth rate of the number of Chinese travelers to the U.S will be 18.1%, estimated by the U.S commerce department; in 2019, the number of Chinese travelers will be 4.91 million.

Also read: China to Produce the 3rd Largest Number of Visitors to the U.S.

Chinese citizens’ Tourists Satisfaction Index was 76.98 in Q3 according to China Tourism Academy , which was in a basic satisfaction level (relatively low). The top 3 countries among 24 sample countries with the highest satisfaction were Italy, Singapore and the U.S..

China is now the second most popular source country for visitors to Australia, following New Zealand with 1.2 million trips from across the Tasman in the last financial year.

In Q3 2014, the gap between Chinese satisfaction of outbound tourism and expectation was narrowed. While ratio of complaint was rising, Chinese travelers who complain and reported complaint accounted for 12.98% and 1.68% respectively. The main issues were travel products & service quality, public service including Chinese language support, and sense of security.

Italy, among all sample countries surveyed, ranked the highest according to the Tourists Satisfaction Index:

1. Italy 79.95
2. Singapore 79.82
3. The U.S. 79.79
4. Japan 79.48
5. New Zealand 79.36
6. Canada 79.02
7. U.K. 78.85
8. Australia 78.66
9. Thailand 78.49
10. France 78.23
11. South Korea 77.55
12. Spain 77.31
13. Germany 77.13
14. Malaysia 76.84
15. Indonesia 75.86
16. Cambodia 74.13
17. Argentina 74.08
18. South Africa 73.98
19. Vietnam 73.84
20. Russia 73.79
21. Philippines 73.39
22. India 73.38
23. Brazil 73.05
24. Mongolia 72.61

Also read: Rise of the China Outbound Tourism

China international travelers to the United States will grow 172% from 2013 to 2019, the largest total growth percentage according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Mexico (30%), Canada (17%), China (17%), Brazil (5%), and the United Kingdom (U.K.) (3%) are expected to account for 72% of the projected growth from 2013 through 2019.

Although China and Brazil continue to get the bulk of media attention because of their consistent and very high growth rates, the traditional top origin countries will dictate actual volume growth and the ultimate accuracy of the forecast. For example, despite a small 3.0% growth rate, Canada produced a greater number of additional travelers in 2013 compared to the previous year than China and Brazil combined.

If the fall 2014 Travel Forecast is realized through 2019, the current top ten countries will retain that status, but China will move from #7 in 2013 to #3 in 2019, while U.K. Japan, Brazil, and German will all slip down one place in the ranking.

High growth rates and large growth volumes are expected for China (24%) and it is expected to increase a total of 3.1 million visitors, or 172% through 2019, and produce the third largest number of additional visitors to the United States behind Mexico and Canada.

Both inbound travel and outbound travel are booming in China; it is estimated that during China National Day’s golden week starting on Oct 1, tourism market is expected to see 480 million person-trips in 2014 with an increase of 13% YoY.

China just replaced France as Canada’s second largest source of overseas visitors in August 2014 with a 4.6% increase to a record 43,000 trips.

Short-term trips from China to Australia have grown from 234,000 in 2003-2004 period to 769,000 in 2013-2014, making a record number of visits to Australia.

China outbound tourists on average spent RMB 20,000 (US$3,252) during travel per person and shopping is an important part of their spend in oversea trips (57.8%). Find out more on China outbound travelers here.

Read more: here Are Top 12 Most Interested Topics of Chinese Online Travelers

The total number of mainland Chinese cross border online shoppers reached 18 million 78% of which are mobile shoppers; and, China has become the second cross border online shopping destinations in the United States, according to a Nielsen survey, commissioned by PayPal.

Related: Chinese cross-border online shopping insights 2016

Cross-border Online Shopping Trend

The research from Nielsen shows that over 90 million cross-border shoppers across six key markets – the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, mainland China and Brazil – will be spending over USD100 billion on overseas websites this year alone.

One interesting finding from the research: shoppers in of China (and Brazil) proved particularly keen to be protected should something go wrong with a purchase, showing that a perceived lack of security can be a far bigger barrier to a purchase than any country border.

It also revealed the top online shopping destinations in the world:

• USA (45%)
• UK (37%)
• mainland China (26%)
• Hong Kong (25%)
• Canada (18%)
• Australia (16%)
• Germany (14%). But despite the global

Characteristics of China Cross-border Online Shoppers

• There are 18 million online cross-border shoppers in China, 78% are cross-border mobile shoppers
• Chinese cross-border shoppers spent RMB216 billion in 2013 – with up to 35.9 million online cross-border shoppers expected to spend up to RMB1.0 trillion a year by 2018; Chinese mobile shoppers spent $16.7 billion in 2013
• Health and beauty products are a popular purchase for shoppers in China; top five cross-border purchase categories in China over the past 12 months are:
  • clothes, shoes and accessories (RMB22.0 billion)
  • health and beauty products (RMB17.6 billion)
  • computer hardware (RMB13.5 billion)
  • jewellery, gems and watches (RMB13.1 billion)
  • personal electronics (RMB12.9 billion).
• Cross-border online shoppers’ top shopping destinations:  US (84%), Hong Kong (58%), Japan (52%), UK (43%), Australia (39%).
• Geographic proximity plays a part in purchasing decisions; and, mainland Chinese shoppers buy from Hong Kong and Japan
• The average age of cross-border shopper in China are younger among all countries surveyed (25-44 y-o)
• Shoppers in China and Brazil value protection more than their counterparts in the West
• China is the second cross-border online shopping destination (39%)  in the USA after the UK (49%); the second (48%) in Brazil after US (79%); the second (23%) in UK after US (70%); the fourth (17%) in Germany; the third in Australia

Cross-border shopping is expected to grow by 200% in the next five years, with the greatest growth coming from China?

In 2013, the combined cross-border mobile shopping markets of the USA, the UK, Germany, Australia, China and Brazil are already worth $36.4 billion – accounting for more than a third of all cross-border online shopping in these markets.

Where China Cross-border Shoppers Shop

With the launch of Free Trade Zone in Shanghai, a cross-border B2C platform kuajingtong.com was launched at the end of 2013; and, Amazon is also going to build logistics and warehousing centers in the free trade zone.

Kuajingtong is the first cross-border e-commerce platform granted by Chinese government as they supports cross-border shopping. It is supported by Shanghai Customs, Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau and State Administration of Foreign Exchange, has the advantage in product authentic guarantee, competitive pricing, transparent taxes, convenient logistics and customer service.

Amazon China will also take advantage of Shanghai’s FTZ to help Chinese shoppers buy in the global market and global shoppers buy from China.

China Cross-Border Payment Status

Current Chinese consumers’ cross-border payment included cross-border online shopping payment, cross-border fund transfer and cross-border offline shopping according to iResearch. Most consumers used cross-border online shopping, with 65.7%.

Data showed that third-party platforms were the most popular method for cross-border money transfer. 50.9% consumers chose third-party platforms to transfer money, while 39.8% chose commercial banks. Only 9.2% would use remittance companies.

18.9% Chinese consumers preferred domestic third-party online payment; 16.6% favored online banks; and 15.5% would choose credit card offline payment.

More than 80% Chinese consumers preferred online payment in cross-border payment.

Business travel in Asia Pacific, led by a dominant China, outpaces the rest of the world, according to a newly released travel forecast by the GBTA Foundation.

Driven by infrastructure investments, exports and service development, business travel spending in China has grown from US$32 billion in 2000 to US$225 billion in 2013, an average of 16.2% each year. By comparison, growth in business travel spending from the US has grown at an annual rate of just 1.1% since 2000.

The report, which details travel spending in 75 countries, along with the top industries, economic factors and characteristics that influence business travel, finds that record high business travel spending is driven by a few dominant markets – namely the US, China and Western Europe.

Currently Asia Pacific owns the largest share of the business travel spend market with 38% followed by North America (21%) and Western Europe (24%). GBTA expects that by 2018, Asia Pacific will have gained another 5% in market share, while the US and Western Europe will lose three% and two%, respectively.

This report underscores that China, along with the other BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia and India are leveraging their business travel expenditures into more economic opportunities,

said GBTA Executive Director and COO Michael W. McCormick.

We expect to see this shift in business travel spending to continue.

The report’s other key findings include:

• 89% of total business spending around the world – totaling US$984 billion – originated from traffic in Asia Pacific, Western Europe or North America.
• Even accounting for concerns over an economic slowdown in the country, GBTA expects China to surpass the US in business travel spending by 2016.
• Italy and Spain continue to slip in GBTA’s annual rankings of the top 15 countries by travel spend. In contrast, BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – continue to rise in the growth ranking, representing four of the top six countries in terms of business travel spending growth. A chart detailing the top 15 countries can be found below.
• Regionally, Asia Pacific is already the largest business travel region in the world, comprising 38% of global business travel. Business travel spending in Asia Pacific totaled $392 billion in 2013 – more than doubling in size since 2000 with a growth rate of 7.5% annually. GBTA expects business travel spending to continue growing at a 10.2% annual pace over the next five years.

This year’s global BTI™ predicts single-digit expansion of global spending on business travel and the emersion of the Asia Pacific region as the world’s largest travel market, comprising 38% of global business travel with two-thirds of that activity coming from China and Japan,

said Tad Fordyce, head of Global Commercial Solutions at Visa, Inc.

As global business travel is expected to continue growing in the coming years, China is projected to surpass the U.S. as the top business travel market in the world by 2016.

The Annual Global Report & Forecast identified other key trends that could impact business travel over the next year, including political activity in Emerging Europe and the cost of oil.

TOP 15 BUSINESS TRAVEL MARKETS

The GBTA report identified the top 15 business travel markets, ranked by spending in 2013. The largest growth was seen in three of the BRIC countries – China (15.1%), India (10.4%) and Russia (8.7%).

Over the 12 months ended March 2014, buyers from China purchased U.S. properties estimated at $22 billion in total value, approximately a quarter of total international sales according to Realtor.

Highlights of Realtor Findings

• The median price was $523,148, and the mean price was $590,826
• 76% of purchases were reported as all-cash purchases
• Chinese buyers preferred urban (37%) and suburban areas (46%)
• About half of purchases are for vacation/residential rental purposes; 39% for primary residence, and 5% for commercial rental use
• The five markets of greatest interest to potential Chinese buyers were Los Angeles, San Francisco, Irvine, New York, and Las Vegas

1. Unlike China, American and Japanese consumers mainly use credit cards for payment
2. Compared with the USA and Japan, Chinese consumers are far keener to e-commerce transactions
3. Hot categories of these three countries include books, clothes and ornaments
4. Transnational e-commerce has great potencial in the long run