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China's Ministry of Science and Technology has said it will spend more effort to foster the transfer of high-quality intellectual properties into market-end products amid intensifying technology competition with the US. 

The ministry will improve the management of key intellectual property rights (IPRs) transfer processes, take contract volume as a main appraisal indicator, foster market-orientated transformation and tap IRP trading centers and networks to expedite the high-quality fruition of IPR, Huang Shengbiao, a ministry official, said at a press conference on Thursday. 

China recently issued a plan for the 2021-35 period to strengthen build-up and protection of IPRs, by accelerating legislation on IPRs in new fields and forms of business, such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms and genetic technology. 

Per the plan, the added value of patent-intensive industries is expected to be equivalent to 13 percent of China's GDP by 2025, and 7.5 percent of the copyright industry. 

In 2019, patent-intensive industries churned out output equivalent to 11.6 percent of GDP while the copyright industry accounted for 7.39 percent of total GDP. 

In 2020, companies and entities in China inked 1.1 trillion yuan ($170 billion) worth of IPR-related contracts, accounting for 39.8 percent of total transacted volume for technological contracts, according to Huang. 

The annual trade volume of IPR royalties reached 319.44 billion yuan in 2020, nearing a stated 2025 goal of 350 billion yuan annual royalties.

In 2020, China busted 25,000 IPR incidents of infringement worth a total of 500 million yuan. 

According to a September report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China ranks 12th in the Global Innovation Index of 2021, up two places compared with 2020. The report showed that China's ranking has risen annually since 2013, showing a strong upward momentum.

Locking horns with China in a tech war, the US has continued efforts to contain China's technological rise.

On Wednesday, the EU and the US unveiled an alliance - The United States-European Union Trade and Technology Council - with the aim of countering China on trade and technology.

Global Times