China is advancing its intellectual property (IP) protection framework with the establishment of a new national-level IP protection center in Dongguan, Guangdong province. Announced by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) on Tuesday, the center aims to streamline IP protection for industries specializing in intelligent terminals and new materials. This addition brings the total number of national-level IP protection centers in China to 81, with seven located in Guangdong alone. Dongguan, a city with a permanent population exceeding 10 million and a regional GDP of over 1 trillion yuan ($141 billion), is a manufacturing powerhouse with a thriving innovation ecosystem. The new center will serve as a ‘one-stop’ platform, integrating IP protection services and fostering synergy between innovation and industrial chains. CNIPA emphasized that the center will enhance coordination among existing protection centers in Guangdong, creating a regional IP protection hub to drive high-quality development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). Notably, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster in the GBA recently topped the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 2025 Global Innovation Index, surpassing Japan’s Tokyo-Yokohama cluster for the first time.