The National Copyright Administration of the People’s Republic of China released 2019 filing data showing an almost 21% increase in works registered for copyright year on year.  The total number of national copyright registrations in 2019 reached 4,186,549, compared with 3,457,338 in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 21.09%. This compares with a 9% drop in patent filings in 2019.

Copyright registrations for software proved to be popular. A total of 1,484,448 computer software copyright registrations were completed in the country in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 34.36%.  More than two thirds of the registrations came from the East Coast of China where many high tech companies are located, particularly Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu, and Shanghai.  

The next most popular types of work for registration were works of art and photography, with 1,288,139 works and 1,015,620 works registered respectively. 

No breakout was provided for registrations of Chinese versus foreign entities.