China is leading the way in patents. The Chinese government wants to transform China from being the world's factory into being the world's brains.
As reported here, China already produces the third highest number of patents after Japan and the USA and is likely to overtake those two next year. This is extraordinary for a country that didn't have patent law until 25 years ago.
What do we make of it? The Financial Times makes the excellent point that we are still unlikely to see an influx of Chinese inventions because they are starting from zero. It says this is more a case of the world's second biggest economy trying to tick the boxes and catch up with America.
The Economist goes further, making the point that most of these patents are of suspect value with lots of patent writers and filers advertising their services for cheap. There's lot of junk out there.
Still, it's a sign that the Chinese government is taking innovation seriously, supporting this trend through a massive R&D budget which it plans to have at 2.5% of GDP by 2020, tax concessions and extensive backing from the universities, scientific research institutions and colleges.
China has gone from a standing start. Over time, the quality of the patents will improve
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