Patent Commercialization Activities At Chinese Universities Skyrocket In Past Decade

"Chinese universities' technology production rate and commercialization efficiency have been soaring in the past decade," said Lei Chaozi, Director General of the Science and Technology and Information Technology Department of Ministry of Education (MOE) recently at MOE's eighth briefing of a series featuring subjects like '1+1' and 'Education in Decade'.

The briefing reveals, in the recent decade, patents granted to Chinese universities boosted from 69,000 in 2012 to 308,000 in 2021, up 346.4% while the grant rate (note: total grants out of total applications) rose from 65.1% to 83.9%. Patent transfer/licensing agreements vaulted from over 2,000 to over 15,000. Monetary value of patent commercialization amounted to 8.89 billion yuan from 820 million yuan, up a whopping 10 times. It is no small feat that patent-related quality, efficiency and capacity trending up simultaneously.