Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, has led the province in terms of the protection and utilization of intellectual property (IP).

The city was selected as a key city for the development of a national IP operation and service system in 2020 and received 150 million yuan ($22.46 million) in special financial support from the Central Government that year. 

In 2021, the city authorized 16,696 patents, accounting for 44.7 percent of the provincial total. Its number of valid invention patents reached 13,448, accounting for 69.1 percent of the provincial total. It had 25 invention patents per 10,000 people, and high-value invention patents totaled 4,009 – 68.7 percent of the provincial total. 

Taiyuan plans to integrate its IP operation resources and data resources and build an IP operation service platform and five industrial IP operation centers this year. 

To promote IP transformation and application, it will support large State-owned enterprises, universities and institutes in transferring and transforming patented technologies to small and medium-sized enterprises and promoting and applying patented technologies.

Enterprises and institutions with outstanding achievements in promoting IP transformation will be rewarded 200,000 yuan to 1 million yuan.

By 2023, Taiyuan plans to build an IP operation service system focusing on the city's layout of key industries.