The China Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture reports that patent applications have doubled between 2002 and 2008. China’s applications (agricultural and other) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) have also increased. Between 2008 and 2009, they increased by a third, representing almost 7,800 extra international applications.

“Agricultural innovations in areas such as GM crops have rapidly increased in number over the past decade, said CCIPA researcher Liu Lijun. GM crop applications stood at 342 last year, compared with 108 in 2002. And these innovations have been applied across the country. In 2008, around four million hectares of transgenic cotton were planted in the country, accounting for 70 per cent of China’s cotton land.”

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