Yibin city was recently approved as a national pilot city of IP, bringing the total number in the province to nine. City mayor Xu Jin said the government considers IP development one of the key elements to the city's economic growth and industrial restructuring. By the end of 2013, the city had some 7,000 patents, including more than 320 intention patents. Nearly 500 patents have been commercialized since 2009, generating 41 billion yuan ($6.6 billion) of sales volume.

(Source: China Daily)