Last weekend, coinciding with World IP Day on April 26, the Office of the National Leading Group on Building a Quality-Powered Nation released the Annual Report on China's Combating of IPR Infringement and Counterfeiting (2025).

This year's report carries additional weight. 2025 marks the final year of China's 14th Five-Year Plan, and the report accordingly includes a new dedicated chapter reviewing five years of institutional progress — making it both a scorecard and a forward-looking baseline.

The report is long and data-rich. Here is what we think matters most.

1. Three signals from the top line

First, the enforcement infrastructure is now structural, not campaign-driven. Over the five-year period, public security authorities investigated 170,000 criminal cases involving IP infringement and counterfeiting and apprehended 247,000 suspects. Courts concluded 2.77 million IP cases. Public satisfaction with IP protection rose from 80.05 in 2020 to 82.81 in 2025. These are not one-off results — they reflect a system that has been built to sustain output.

Second, administrative enforcement is becoming more coordinated and more precise. In 2025, market regulation authorities handled nearly 580,000 IP-related enforcement cases, including 37,000 trademark infringement and patent counterfeiting cases valued at RMB 677 million. A standout example: in the "Putian Laila" case, SAMR coordinated enforcement agencies across 28 provinces to dismantle a nationwide franchise operation infringing 19 international brands, demonstrating the growing operational reach of cross-regional collaboration.

Third, criminal enforcement remains at high intensity. Under the "Kunlun 2025" campaign, public security organs opened 26,000 cases and arrested 45,000 suspects. Procuratorates prosecuted 19,000 individuals for trademark, copyright, trade secret, and patent-related offenses. Courts convicted 19,000 individuals of IP crimes, up 6.2% year on year.

2. Where enforcement is concentrating

Several priority areas stand out in the 2025 data:

Online and copyright enforcement continues to sharpen. The "Sword Net 2025" campaign removed 1.16 million infringing links and handled 1,472 cases. The Cyberspace Administration folded false advertising, account impersonation, and corporate "black-mouth" commentary into the scope of its "Clear and Bright" campaigns.

Cross-border trade and customs saw intensified action. Customs authorities seized 39,000 batches comprising 86.42 million items of suspected infringing goods. The "Dragon Soaring 2025" and dedicated cross-border e-commerce IP campaigns targeted fragmented "ant-moving" style shipment tactics — a clear signal that enforcement sophistication is keeping pace with evasion techniques.

Emerging technology and bad-faith filings drew fast institutional responses. CNIPA rejected 336 bad-faith trademark applications for "DEEPSEEK" following the AI model's release. The Measures on Labeling AI-Generated and Synthetic Content took effect. And the SPC and SPP jointly issued a new judicial interpretation on criminal IP cases, unifying sentencing standards across jurisdictions.

3. What this means going forward

The report sends a clear message: China's anti-counterfeiting framework has moved from mobilization to institutionalization. As the 15th Five-Year Plan begins, enforcement intensity in emerging areas — AI, cross-border e-commerce, trade secrets, data security — is set to increase further.

For rights holders, the transition window between the two planning cycles is a strategic moment. Companies that align their enforcement strategies with the priorities signaled in this report — coordinated administrative-criminal-civil approaches, precise lead development, and attention to emerging digital risks — will be better positioned to act when the next wave of policy implementation begins.

For further discussion, please feel free to reach out to us.