IP scene

Hunan

Patent-collateralized loans up 68.5 percent

Some 160 companies in Central China's Hunan province received patent-collateralized loans totaling 2.39 billion yuan ($352.6 million) in 2018, soaring 68.5 percent from the previous year. Statistics from local intellectual property authorities show such loans in Xiangtan more than quadrupled, and those in Yiyang, Yongzhou and Huaihua doubled last year. The surge was the result of the provincial government's efforts to help financing for local companies with favorable policies, including offering evaluation subsidies to banks and insurance companies involved in the business.

China Intellectual Property News

Shandong

Performers take local culture abroad

Some 20 art troupes from East China's Shandong province held a performance tour in 14 countries and regions during Spring Festival. Audiences in the destinations including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea and New Zealand thus had the opportunity to experience traditional Chinese cultural offerings ranging from Peking Opera to Chinese acrobatics. An official in Shandong said that such tours will have a positive impact on cultural exchanges and improve the influence of Chinese culture overseas.

Chinanews.com

Jiangsu

Nanjing ranked best in IP competitiveness

Nanjing ranked first among cities in East China's Jiangsu province in terms of competitiveness in intellectual property last year. The rankings were compiled by a local intellectual property association. Suzhou and Wuxi came second and third on the list of 13 cities in the province. Of them, Nanjing, the provincial capital, outperformed in terms of patent creation and use, Wuxi did the best job in IP protection and Suzhou achieved the highest score in the patent-friendly environment.

China Intellectual Property News

Qinghai

China's oldest Quran displayed in Haidong

China's oldest handwritten Quran manuscript is on public display in Haidong in Northwest China's Qinghai province. The 30-volume, 867-page Quran is believed to date back 1,100 to 1,300 years and weighs 12.79 kg. It belongs to a mosque in the Xunhua Salar autonomous county, and is seen as a testimony to the development of the ethnic group that set out eastward from what is now Turkmenistan in the 13th century and finally settled in Qinghai.

Chinanews.com

Yunnan

Student awarded gold at ROK invention fair

A middle school student from Southwest China's Yunnan province won a gold prize at the 2018 Seoul International Invention Fair for a device that monitors pedestrians running red lights. Chen Wenwen, from Lincang city, was the only student winner at the event, where 606 inventions from 33 countries were shown. Another two exhibits by Chinese inventors were awarded gold prizes, as well. The event, now in its 14th year, is the largest of its kind in Asia.

Yunnan Daily

(China Daily 02/14/2019 page17)