Jiangmen Launches 2026 Intellectual Property Awareness Week to Boost Innovation in China’s “Hometown of Overseas Chinese”
Jiangmen, a city in China’s southern Guangdong province known as the “Hometown of Overseas Chinese,” has kicked off its 2026 Intellectual Property (IP) Awareness Week, marking a renewed push to strengthen copyright protection and foster innovation-driven growth. The campaign, which aligns with the national theme “Strengthening IP Protection in Emerging Fields to Accelerate Novel Quality Productive Forces,” aims to elevate public awareness of IP rights even as supporting the city’s transition toward high-tech industries and sustainable development.
Officials launched the week-long initiative on April 20, 2026, with a ceremony attended by Jiangmen’s Vice Mayor Cao Yang and other local leaders. The event underscored the city’s commitment to transforming intellectual property from a legal concept into a tangible asset for businesses, particularly in emerging sectors like advanced manufacturing, digital technology, and green energy. For Jiangmen—a city with deep historical ties to global trade and a thriving diaspora community—this effort is seen as critical to attracting investment, protecting local innovations, and maintaining its competitive edge in the Greater Bay Area.
This year’s campaign places a strong emphasis on copyright protection, a key pillar of IP law that safeguards original works such as software, literature, music, and digital content. With China’s creative and tech industries expanding rapidly, Jiangmen’s focus on copyright reflects broader national priorities to curb piracy, support content creators, and ensure fair competition. The city’s efforts are part of a larger trend across China, where regions are increasingly leveraging IP as a tool for economic modernization and global integration.
Jiangmen’s IP Landscape: A Model for Regional Innovation
Jiangmen’s progress in IP protection has been notable in recent years. By the end of 2025, the city had surpassed 30 national and provincial-level IP demonstration enterprises, a designation awarded to companies excelling in patent creation, management, and commercialization. This achievement reflects Jiangmen’s broader strategy to cultivate a robust innovation ecosystem, particularly in its high-tech zones and industrial parks.
One of the city’s standout metrics is its high-value invention patents. As of 2025, Jiangmen boasted 22.13 high-value invention patents per 10,000 people, a figure that places it at the top of Guangdong province. High-value patents—typically those with strong commercial potential or technological breakthroughs—are a key indicator of an economy’s shift toward knowledge-intensive industries. For Jiangmen, this statistic signals its growing role as a hub for cutting-edge research and development, particularly in sectors like new materials, smart manufacturing, and biotechnology.
The city’s Jiangmen High-Tech Zone Intellectual Property Collaborative Operation Center has been instrumental in this progress. In 2025, the center was recognized as one of the top five provincial-level IP operation centers in Guangdong, a testament to its success in bridging the gap between patent holders, and investors. The center’s work includes facilitating patent quality financing, where businesses leverage their IP portfolios as collateral to secure loans—a practice that has gained traction in China as a way to unlock capital for startups and SMEs. In Jiangmen, IP quality financing has exceeded 2.5 billion yuan (approximately $345 million) annually for two consecutive years, according to official data from the Jiangmen Municipal Government.
Jiangmen’s IP ecosystem has too benefited from strategic partnerships. In 2025, the city’s high-tech zone signed a cooperation agreement with the China (Southern) Intellectual Property Operation Center in Shenzhen’s Futian District, a move aimed at leveraging Shenzhen’s expertise in IP commercialization and technology transfer. This collaboration is expected to accelerate the flow of innovation between Jiangmen and one of China’s most dynamic tech hubs, further integrating the city into the Greater Bay Area’s innovation network.
The “Jiang High” Patent Competition: A Launchpad for Innovation
A highlight of this year’s IP Awareness Week was the promotion of the Jiangmen High-Value Patent Cultivation and Layout Competition (Jiang High), a flagship event that has become a cornerstone of the city’s IP strategy. Launched in 2020 as a regional initiative in Jiangmen’s Jianghai District, the competition has since evolved into a national-level event, making it the first of its kind to be hosted by a prefecture-level city in China.
Over the past five years, the Jiang High competition has attracted 471 innovative projects and 1,989 patents, with the total estimated value of participating patents exceeding 4.6 billion yuan (approximately $635 million). The competition has also engaged a broad audience, with over 1.58 million online votes cast for participating projects, reflecting strong public interest in IP and innovation. Wang Li, Business Director of the Hengqin International Intellectual Property Exchange Center, highlighted the competition’s unique approach during the launch event. Unlike traditional patent contests, Jiang High is designed as a year-round ecosystem rather than a one-time event. It offers tailored support for participants, including patent navigation services, connections to investors, and mentorship from industry experts.
The competition is divided into two tracks: an early-stage track for startups and a growth track for more established companies. This structure ensures that businesses at different stages of development receive targeted support. For example, early-stage participants may focus on refining their patent strategies, while growth-stage companies might explore commercialization opportunities or international IP protection. Wang emphasized that the goal is not just to award prizes but to elevate the patent capabilities of Jiangmen’s enterprises, turning IP into a driver of long-term growth.
Jiangmen’s businesses have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the Jiang High competition. To date, companies from the city have won 17 awards, the highest number of any district in Jiangmen. These winners include firms specializing in advanced materials, smart manufacturing, and green technology, sectors that align with China’s broader push for “new quality productive forces”—a term coined by President Xi Jinping to describe innovation-driven, high-tech industries that can sustain long-term economic growth. The success of Jiang High has also positioned Jiangmen as a leader in IP-driven innovation, setting a benchmark for other cities in Guangdong and beyond.
Copyright Protection: Safeguarding Jiangmen’s Creative and Digital Economy
While patents and trademarks have been a focal point of Jiangmen’s IP strategy, this year’s campaign places renewed emphasis on copyright protection, particularly in the digital realm. As China’s creative industries continue to expand—with sectors like gaming, animation, and digital content generating billions in revenue annually—Jiangmen is keen to ensure that local creators and businesses can protect their work from infringement and piracy.
The city’s copyright initiatives are part of a broader national effort to modernize China’s IP framework. In 2021, China’s National Copyright Administration released a five-year plan to strengthen copyright enforcement, improve registration systems, and promote the commercialization of copyrighted works. Jiangmen’s efforts align with these goals, particularly in its focus on emerging digital industries, where copyright infringement can be particularly challenging to combat due to the global nature of online content distribution.
One of the key challenges in copyright protection is raising public awareness. Many slight businesses and individual creators in China are unaware of their rights or how to enforce them. Jiangmen’s IP Awareness Week aims to address this gap through a series of public seminars, workshops, and outreach programs, targeting entrepreneurs, students, and content creators. These initiatives are designed to demystify copyright law and provide practical guidance on topics such as registering works, licensing content, and taking legal action against infringement.
For Jiangmen’s overseas Chinese community—a significant economic and cultural force in the city—copyright protection is particularly relevant. Many members of this community are involved in creative industries, including film, music, and publishing, both in China and abroad. By strengthening copyright enforcement, Jiangmen hopes to create a more secure environment for these individuals to invest in and develop creative projects, further enhancing the city’s cultural and economic ties with the global Chinese diaspora.
Why Jiangmen’s IP Push Matters for China’s Innovation Ecosystem
Jiangmen’s IP Awareness Week is more than a local event; it reflects China’s broader ambitions to transition from a manufacturing-driven economy to one powered by innovation and intellectual property. As the country seeks to reduce its reliance on foreign technology and foster homegrown champions in high-tech industries, cities like Jiangmen are playing a critical role in building the legal and institutional frameworks needed to support this shift.
The city’s focus on new quality productive forces—a term that encompasses advanced manufacturing, green technology, and digital innovation—aligns with national priorities outlined in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) and the subsequent 15th Five-Year Plan, which is expected to emphasize innovation and sustainability. For Jiangmen, this means not only protecting IP but also creating an environment where businesses can thrive by leveraging their intellectual assets. This includes improving access to financing, fostering collaboration between academia and industry, and ensuring that startups have the legal and technical support they need to scale their innovations.
Jiangmen’s efforts are also significant in the context of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), a regional development initiative that aims to integrate Hong Kong, Macau, and nine cities in Guangdong province into a world-class economic hub. As part of the GBA, Jiangmen is positioning itself as a key player in the region’s innovation ecosystem, particularly in sectors like smart manufacturing and green technology. By strengthening its IP protections, the city is not only attracting investment but also ensuring that its businesses can compete on a global stage.
Looking ahead, Jiangmen’s IP strategy is likely to focus on several key areas:
- Expanding IP financing: Building on its success with patent quality financing, Jiangmen is expected to explore new models for IP-backed lending, particularly for startups and SMEs.
- Enhancing international cooperation: The city’s partnership with Shenzhen’s IP operation center is just the beginning. Jiangmen is likely to seek collaborations with other global IP hubs to facilitate technology transfer and cross-border innovation.
- Strengthening enforcement: As Jiangmen’s creative and tech industries grow, so too will the need for robust enforcement mechanisms to combat piracy and infringement. This may include greater collaboration with law enforcement agencies and the judiciary.
- Promoting public awareness: Continued efforts to educate businesses and the public about IP rights will be critical to ensuring that Jiangmen’s innovation ecosystem remains inclusive and accessible.
What’s Next for Jiangmen’s IP Initiatives?
As Jiangmen’s 2026 IP Awareness Week draws to a close, the city’s focus will shift to implementing the strategies and initiatives unveiled during the campaign. Key next steps include:
- Follow-up workshops and training: Local authorities are expected to organize additional seminars and training sessions for businesses, particularly in high-tech zones, to help them navigate the patent and copyright registration processes.
- Expansion of the Jiang High competition: Organizers have indicated that the 2026 edition of the Jiang High competition will feature new categories and increased support for participants, including mentorship programs and investor matchmaking events.
- Strengthening enforcement mechanisms: Jiangmen’s market supervision and IP authorities are likely to ramp up efforts to combat IP infringement, particularly in online marketplaces and digital platforms.
- Monitoring and reporting: The city will continue to track key IP metrics, such as the number of high-value patents and the volume of IP financing, to assess the impact of its initiatives and make data-driven adjustments.
For businesses and innovators in Jiangmen, the message is clear: intellectual property is no longer just a legal concept but a strategic asset that can drive growth, attract investment, and secure a competitive advantage. As the city continues to build its innovation ecosystem, its success will serve as a model for other regions in China seeking to harness the power of IP for economic development.
For those interested in learning more about Jiangmen’s IP initiatives or participating in future events, the Jiangmen Municipal Government’s official website provides updates and resources. The next major checkpoint will be the announcement of the 2026 Jiang High competition winners, expected later this year.
What are your thoughts on Jiangmen’s approach to intellectual property protection? Do you see IP as a key driver of innovation in your industry? Share your views in the comments below and join the conversation on how cities can foster creativity and economic growth through strong IP frameworks.