Last year, the average trademark review cycle was shortened to fewer than six months in China, and this year, clear plans have been laid out to achieve the target of shortening it to four months, said the head of the State Intellectual Property Office Shen Changyu at a press conference for the second session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) on strengthening market supervision and maintaining market order on Monday.

Shen's remarks came in response to a question by CGTN reporter Hou Na on the progress of enhancing the credibility and efficiency of intellectual property examination, which was mentioned by President Xi Jinping when he delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the first China International Import Expo last year.

At the time, President Xi stressed the importance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) approval.

In the past few years, China has shortened the trademark inspection period from eight months to six months and cut the approval time for high-value patents by ten percent, said Shen.

Going forward, the National Intellectual Property Administration will make efforts to develop a smart approval system, build high-caliber approval personnel, further streamline approval procedure and formulate new working methods, according to Shen.