Since the restructuring in 2018, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has realized collective and unified management of patent, trademark, appellation of origin and geographical indication, and layout design of integrated circuits, with its efficiency significantly improved. The restructured CNIPA is responsible for formulating and implementing China's national IP strategies, protecting and promoting the utilization of IPRs, examining and registering IP applications, making administrative adjudications, establishing an IP public service system and coordinating foreign-related IP affairs.

In recent years, CNIPA upholds the underlying principles of pursuing progress while ensuring stability. Focusing on high-quality development, it has promoted the creation, protection and application of IPRs, and strengthened IP protection jointly with other countries. In the first half of 2020, CNIPA accepted 683,000 invention patent applications, 4.284 million applications for trademark registration, and 5,176 applications for the registration of layout designs of integrated circuits; approved the registration of 364 geographical indications; accepted 29,500 PCT international applications; received 3,875 applications for the Madrid System international registration from Chinese applicants; and reduced the examination period of high-value patent to 15.2 months, with the examination period of trademark registrations averaging out at 4.5 months.

In 2019, China's import and export of IP royalties totaled USD 40.98 billion, and its total amount of patent and trademark pledge financing reached RMB 151.5 billion. China rose to 14th in the Global Innovation Index 2019 and 31st in the Business Environment Report 2019 released by the World Bank, with its Social Satisfaction with IP protection rising to 78.98 points. As the end of June 2020, the number of CNIPA's PPH partners had increased to 29.

CNIPA always takes an active part in the global governance of IPRs, advances international cooperation on IP protection, promotes and participates in multilateral affairs and adjustment of international IP rules, continuously deepens practical cooperation on multilateral and bilateral issues, and serves innovation entities of all countries. Since 2020, CNIPA has doubled its efforts to overcome the adverse impact of COVID-19 on IP cooperation and to strengthen cooperation with IP agencies from other countries and regions. It has compiled and published associated measures taken by IP offices in the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea, etc., launched the English website of the Information Sharing Platform for Patents on Epidemic Prevention Against COVID-19, and specified the relief measures that apply to all those affected by the disease in the rest of the world. During the pandemic, CNIPA has attended many video conferences convened by WIPO to exchange IP policies with offices from other countries. It has also attended video conferences with heads of IP offices of Europe, Japan and South Korea respectively, and issued the Joint Statement of CNIPA and EPO on Response to COVID-19, so as to jointly tackle the COVID-19 challenge on intellectual property and promote common development.