China leads global green patent race, signalling shift in sustainable innovation landscape

China has emerged as the global frontrunner in green and low-carbon technology patents, marking a significant shift in the landscape of sustainable innovation. According to a July 28 research report compiled by China's top intellectual property regulator, Chinese patentees had a total of 101,000 green and low-carbon patent applications published in 2023, nearly quintuple the number of second-place Japan, and far outpacing South Korea, the United States and Germany.

The figure represents a 20.1% year-on-year growth, surpassing the global average by 7.1 percentage points. As per the report, China has turbocharged the green and low-carbon patenting arena in terms of the number of published patent applications and grants, and also innovated across all sectors of green and low-carbon technology patents.

Surge in Chinese green patent applications and grants

From 2016 to 2023, Chinese patentees maintained a robust 12.3% annual growth rate, with 555,000 total published applications worldwide, nearly three times that of runner-up Japan (200,000). The U.S., South Korea and Germany rounded out the top five with 157,000, 108,000 and 74,000 respectively, the report showed. Together, the five major filing countries accounted for 85.7% of global total applications.

Over the same period, green patents granted to Chinese applicants totalled 230,000, marking 35.1% of the five major patenting regions, followed by Japan, Europe, the U.S. and South Korea.

The report noted that in 2023, 82.5% of patent applications published globally came from the patent offices of China, the U.S., Europe, Japan, and South Korea. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) published the highest portion with 97,000 green patents, marking a 14.5% increase from the previous year, and 45,000 green patents were granted, up 8% from 2022, the report said. These figures represent over half of the global totals, with worldwide published green patent applications reaching 193,000 and grants totalling 95,000 in the same year.

From 2016 to 2023, green patent applications published in China reached 573,000, growing at an average annual rate of 10.0% - outpacing China's overall patent growth of 7.8%. During the same period, China was granted 249,000 green patents. This growth contrasts with traditional innovation powerhouses like the US, Japan, and Germany, which saw declining rates in several green technology areas.

Notably, 13 out of the top 50 patentees are based in China during the 2016-2023 period, including nine companies such as the State Grid (3rd place) and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) (26th place), and four universities and research institutes including the Chinese Academy of Sciences (9th place).

Clean energy patents on the rise

The report revealed that China has also dominated all the five sectors of green technology patents: fossil fuel decarbonisation, energy conservation and recycling, clean energy, energy storage, and greenhouse gas capture, utilisation, and storage.

From 2016 to 2023, energy saving and recycling patents accounted for the largest share with 211,000 (34.9%) of China’s 573,000 published green patent applications, followed by energy storage (163,000), clean energy (124,000), fossil fuel decarbonisation (69,000) and greenhouse gas capture, utilisation and storage (39,000).

It is worth noting that energy storage applications surged from 2016 and topped the chart in 2023 with a 19.3% average annual growth during the period, breaking the monopoly of energy saving and recycling from 2016 to 2022. Clean energy also showed stable growth, with an average annual growth of 8.7%.

Green patent grants shared a similar trend in China over the same period. From 2016 to 2023, energy saving and recycling grants reached 94,000, 35.8% of the 248,000 total grants, followed by energy storage, clean energy, fossil fuel decarbonisation, and greenhouse gas capture, utilisation and storage. Specifically, energy storage grants experienced the biggest growth with an average annual rate of 15.9%.

Notably, in the clean energy sector, solar energy and hydrogen energy have shown particular promise, each accumulating over 10,000 patents between 2016 and 2023. Solar energy led with 18,000 patents (34.8% of clean energy patents), while hydrogen energy secured 12,000 patents (23.3%).

Globally, Chinese patentees also dominated all five sectors, with the cumulative published applications and grants of each category surpassing conventional innovators including the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea. The proportion of published applications from Chinese entities in energy saving and recycling, energy storage, and clean energy jumped from 34.6%, 25.9%, and 29.5% respectively in 2016 to 59.4%, 48.3%, and 49.6% of the global total in 2023.

Likewise, the proportion of grants in the three areas to Chinese patentees occupied 25.6%, 23.5%, and 20.7% of the total respectively in 2016 and grew to 48.9%, 39.9% and 42.4% respectively in 2023.

It is important to note that published patent applications represent a subset of overall patent applications.

As the world grapples with the urgent need for sustainable solutions, all eyes will be on how China leverages its growing green patent portfolio to address global environmental challenges in the years to come.