China has signed intellectual property (IP) cooperation agreements with 57 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries, further strengthening bilateral cooperation, according to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). At a monthly press conference held last Wednesday, CNIPA revealed that from 2013 to 2023, BRI partner countries filed a total of 285,000 patent applications in China, with an average annual growth rate of 5.6 percent. During the same period, Chinese companies filed 70,000 patent applications and received 35,000 patent grants in BRI partner countries and related organizations, maintaining an average annual growth rate of over 20 percent. The growth momentum for digital patents within Belt and Road cooperation remains robust. From 2013 to 2023, Chinese applicants secured 27,000 invention patents in core digital economy industries from BRI partner countries and related organizations, achieving an average annual growth rate of 16.9 percent.