WIPO China: "Global Services, Empowering Innovation" Themed Event on Intellectual Property for Enterprises Going Global

During the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), the themed event on Intellectual Property for Enterprises Going Global was held at Shougang Park on the afternoon of September 9. Themed "Global Services, Empowering Innovation," the event was organized by the WIPO Office in China (WOC) and the Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office (BJIPO). Ms. Liu Hua, Director of the WOC; Ms. Han Aipeng, Director General of the Department of Intellectual Property Utilization and Promotion, China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA); and Mr. Yang Shuo, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal People's Government, delivered opening remarks. The opening session was moderated by Mr. Meng Bo, Director General of BJIPO.

Mr. Carsten Fink, Chief Economist of WIPO, delivered a keynote speech at the themed event, presenting the ranking of the world's top 100 innovation clusters from the Global Innovation Index 2026, released on September 8. The ranking identifies the geographic areas with the highest concentration of innovative activity using three metrics: the locations of inventors named in international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the affiliations of authors of published scientific articles, and the locations of companies receiving venture capital funding. Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou tops the ranking for the second consecutive year, followed by Tokyo–Yokohama, San Jose–San Francisco, Beijing and Seoul. China is home to 25 of the world's top 100 innovation clusters, the most of any country for the fourth consecutive year, and together with the United States (20) accounts for nearly half of the top 100. Beijing ranks fourth globally and second among Chinese clusters.

Alongside the ranking by size, the GII also measures innovative activity relative to population size, or intensity. On this measure Ningde (China) ranks third globally, after San Jose–San Francisco and Cambridge, driven largely by the patent activity of CATL. By size, Ningde recorded the year's biggest climb, rising 24 places to 75th. The full GII 2026, under the theme "Powering entrepreneurs at the frontier of science," will be launched at WIPO headquarters in Geneva on September 29.

In her remarks, Ms. Liu noted that WIPO, a cooperation partner of CIFTIS for many years, co-hosted the Global Trade in Services Summit for the first time this year, reflecting the growing importance of IP in the global governance of trade in services. She pointed out that with the intersection of the digital technology wave and the deep science wave, AI is profoundly reshaping the innovation landscape, and the IP system is undergoing far-reaching changes. She emphasized that WIPO will support enterprises going global across five dimensions, namely innovation protection, application processes, dispute resolution, data platforms and talent development, helping to safeguard every innovation on its journey to global markets.

Keynote speeches were also delivered by Mr. Michael Starbæk Christensen, Ambassador of Denmark to China; Mr. Antti Riivari, Director General of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office; Ms. Tian Xianghong, Deputy Procurator-General of the Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate; Ms. Li Yanhong, President of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court; and Mr. Jamie Ribman, President and Chief Operating Officer of Avanci. They shared, respectively, experience in building IP alliances; enhancing the international competitiveness of Finnish enterprises through IP services; approaches to safeguarding enterprises going global through procuratorial work; practices in establishing adjudication standards through specialized IP trials; and industry practices in how IP services support global expansion.

In the Release of Outcomes session, BJIPO launched the Handbook of IP Service Resources by Country and Region, the Guidelines for Beijing Patent Pre-examination and Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Application, and the Beijing Expert Pool for Foreign-Related IP Protection Services. Together with the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau and the Chaoyang District People's Government of Beijing Municipality, BJIPO also released the Guidelines for IP Protection in the Designer Toy Industry. Beijing Intellectual Property Operations Management Co., Ltd. and other companies launched the Integrated Service Consortium of IP Ecosystem Partners Supporting Enterprises Going Global. Together, the five outcomes provide comprehensive support for enterprises to go global with high quality across five dimensions: information, processes, talent, industry and ecosystem.

In the High-level Dialogue session, panelists held in-depth discussions on the topic "IP Services Empowering Enterprises Going Global – Challenges, Opportunities and Pathways." Moderated by Ms. Hong Yan, Secretary-General of the Center for Intellectual Property Law Studies, School of Law, Tsinghua University, the dialogue brought together Ms. Tang Yi, Director of the Intellectual Property Division, Commercial Legal Service Center, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT); Ms. Li Muzi, Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Public Service Center; Mr. An Xiaoqiong, Vice President of the Capital Intellectual Property Services Association; Mr. Wang Kan, IP Director of RAYCAN, a WIPO Global Awards-winning enterprise; Ms. Lin Yanchun, Head of Global IP, DCS, Danfoss (China); and other guests. Drawing on their experience in their respective fields, they shared views and offered recommendations on IP portfolio planning, risk prevention and control, and service provision for enterprises going global.

The themed event focused on key topics including IP portfolio planning and risk prevention and control for enterprises going global, emerging trends in international IP governance, innovation in IP services in the digital and intelligent era, and trade in IP services, with in-depth discussions on building a full-chain IP service ecosystem. More than 100 representatives from government agencies, international organizations, judicial institutions, academic organizations, IP service providers and innovative enterprises from China and abroad attended the event.