Fast Growth of China IP License Trade in the First Half of 2018

October 4, 2018

According to the latest data provided by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of China, in the first half of 2018, China’s total trade in IP royalty was US $22 billion, a year-on-year increase of 53.6%. Among them, the IP royalty export valued at US$ 2.737 billion, up 62.1%; the import valued at US $19.268 billion, up 52.5%, showing growth in both sectors with the export leading though.

 

Industry wise, still, the IP royalty in manufacturing sector ranked first in both the export and import: US $2.138 billion exported, up 53.2%, accounting for 78.1% of the total export; and US $13.559 billion imported, up 27.5%, accounting for 70.4% of the total import.

 

Category wise, the export of royalty fees for reproducing or distributing computer software ranked first among all categories in export, totaling US $2.153 billion, up 54.8%, accounting for 78.7%. The import of research and development results was the highest among all categories in import, totaling US$8.54 billion, up 31.7%, accounting for 44.3%.

Region wise, Guangdong province ranked first in both import and export of intellectual property royalties with totally US $2.284 billion exported, accounting for 83.4%; and US $5.849 billion imported, accounting for 30.4%.

 

In the first half of the year, the total trade deficit of China IP royalty was $16.531 billion, an increase of $5.585 billion over the same period in 2017. Germany, Japan, and the United States are the major contributors to this with the respective deficits as US $3.127 billion, $2.932 billion, and $2.46 billion, jointly accounting for 51.5% of the total deficit.

 

Overall, China's IP trade is still dominated by imports, with exports accounting for less than 15%, and the deficit is still expanding, which reflects that China still needs to improve in technology innovation and the quality of the IP rights.

 

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