Patent Index 2024: Patent applications from China at record level

• European Patent Office received nearly 200 000 patent applications last year, with 10.1% coming from China
• China ranks 4th globally in European patent applications
• Huawei is No.2 among top applicant companies
• China recorded a 0.5% YoY increase in applications
• Strongest growth globally came from electrical machinery, apparatus, energy inventions
• Surge in AI and battery technology patent filings

MUNICH and BEIJING, March 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese companies and researchers filed 20 081 patent applications last year at the European Patent Office (EPO), a new record. China ranks 4th worldwide accounting for 10.1% of total applications at the EPO. This demonstrates the strong presence of Chinese companies in the European technology market. Overall, a total of 199 264 patent applications were filed at the EPO last year from around the world. This high level of patenting activity is comparable to the previous year (2023: 199 452), following three years of significant growth.

"Despite political and economic uncertainties, companies and inventors from around the world filed a high number of patents last year, underlining their technological prowess and their continued investment in R&D," said EPO President António Campinos. "The EPO's patent data is a clear roadmap for industry, policy, and investment priorities – tracking global innovation trends and offering insights into European patent application activity across industries and regions."

China's innovation momentum remains strong

In 2024, China ranked fourth worldwide, after the United States (47,787 applications), Germany (25,033 applications), and Japan (21,062 applications), but ahead of Republic of Korea in fifth place (13,107 applications). Notably, patent applications from China have grown consistently over the past decade:  While growth slowed in 2024 (+0.5% compared to 2023), applications from China have more than doubled since 2018; and more than quadrupled since 2014.

China's European patent highlights: Huawei tops Chinese applicant list

The leading Chinese company was Huawei, which was ranked second at the EPO behind Samsung in 2024, followed by LG, Qualcomm and RTX. The top 10 includes four companies from Europe, two from R. Korea, two from the US, and one from each of China and Japan.

In addition to Huawei (4,322 applications), five other Chinese companies ranked in the top 50 applicants at the EPO, showcasing China's robust innovation capabilities and active participation in European patent applications. The rankings include CATL at number 14, with 1,163 European patent applications, ZTE at 16, with 999 applications, Xiaomi at number 20, with 763 applications, Vivo Mobile at 28, with 622 applications and finally Tencent at number 49, with 446 European patent applications. (See graph "Top applicants at the EPO from P.R. China")

Computer tech tops EPO patent rankings Computer technology, which includes areas of AI such as machine learning and pattern recognition, was the leading global field at the EPO for the first time, with 16,815 patent applications in 2024. Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy posted the strongest growth last year (+8.9% on 2023), driven by advances in clean energy technologies, particularly battery innovation (+24.0%). Meanwhile, digital communication, which encompasses inventions related to mobile networks, saw a 6.3% decrease.

Surge in patents from China in battery technologies

For China, the three leading technical fields for European patent filings in 2024 were digital communication, electrical machinery, apparatus, and computer technology — mirroring global trends. The strongest growth from Chinese companies was in electrical machinery, apparatus, energy, which increased by +32.2% in 2024 compared to 2023. This was thanks to a surge from China in patent applications for battery-related technologies (+79%), with four Chinese companies now among the top 15 applicants in battery technologies (up from two in 2023): CATL, Eve Energy, BYD and Zhuhai CosMX Battery. Chinese firms are also becoming active in patenting in a range of other areas, including biotechnology (+15.1%), and organic fine chemistry (+16.1%).

Unitary Patent gains in popularity among Chinese patent proprietors

The Unitary Patent system, launched in 2023, continues to gain momentum, offering innovators from around the world simpler and more accessible patent protection across 18 EU Member States with a single request to the EPO. Unitary protection was requested for 25.6% of all European patents granted by the EPO in 2024 totalling over 28,000 requests. Patentees from EPO member states had the highest uptake rate, with 36.5% of their European patents transformed into Unitary Patents, followed by those from Republic of Korea (18.9%),China (17.9%, up from 10.9%), the US (16.0%), and Japan (7.9%).

Further information

• View the Patent Index 2024 in full
• Explore and customise statistics in our Statistics & Trends Centre
• Access Unitary Patent statistics via our dedicated dashboard
• Download datasets (MS Excel) in the Download data section of our statistics page
• Check patent trends on the go with the EPO Data Hub mobile app
• Read studies on innovation trends at the Observatory on Patents and Technology 
• EPO's support for SMEs, universities, non-profit organisations and other smaller applicants

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About the EPO

With 6 300 staff members, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 45 countries, covering a market of some 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.

SOURCE European Patent Office (EPO)