On October 26, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) announced on its official website that the CNIPA and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) have jointly decided to extend their Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program for five years from November 1, 2023 to  November 1, 2028. The established Guidance of CNIPA-JPO PPH Request remains controlling the pertinent requirements and procedures governing applicants' PPH requests at the two offices. It is reported that PPH is a fast track linking patent examination duties of different countries or regions, allowing patent examination authorities to speed up patent examination by work sharing. Since the initiation of the first PPH pilot program in November 2011, the CNIPA has locked PPH ties with patent authorities of 31 countries or regions.