The Chinese R&D Landscape – Biotechnology

R&D in China in the field of biotechnology* has surged over the last decade. This report seeks to answer the following questions related to this surge in R&D:

• Where in China does the R&D in the field of biotechnology take place?
• What companies and academic institutions in China are driving this R&D effort?
• What has been the focus of Chinese R&D in the field of biotechnology?

The foundation for the study has been the complete database of Chinese invention patents and patent applications from the State Intellectual Property Office of China. This database has been supplemented with geographical data, thereby providing information on the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘when’ of invention in China. Only patents with Chinese priority have been included in the analysis, i.e. not patents filed elsewhere but extended to China.

The following information is included in the report:

• The top 20 cities with regards to the number of patent applications in the field of biotechnology, along with the number of applications and share of all applications in each city.
• The top 10 companies with regards to the number of patent applications in the field of biotechnology, along with the cities they are located in, number of patent applications, and main patenting area (defined by the main International Patent Classification assigned to their patents).
• The top 10 academic institutions with regards to the number of patents applications in the field of biotechnology, along with the cities they are located in, their number of patent applications, and main patenting area (defined by the main International Patent Classification assigned to their patents).
• The R&D focus in the field of biotechnology, illustrated with a structured word cloud with the words most frequently used in patent abstracts in the field.
• The top 50 actors (including companies and academic institutions) in the field, with names and addresses in Chinese, as well as locations, number of patent applications, and main patenting area.

* The WIPO definition has been used, which includes patents with the main International Patent Classifications C07G, C07K, C12M, C12N, C12P, C12Q, C12R, C12S.