Recently, the Ministry of Commerce of the P.R. China issued a notice on the overall plan for expanding the innovation development of service trades, among which, the following articles concerns IP industry:

Article 35. “In the IP service-clustered pilot regions meeting the qualifications requirements, foreigners who have obtained permanent residence permits for foreigners issued by the Chinese government and have patent agency qualifications in other countries are allowed to participate in the patent agent qualification exam and those who have passed the test can be issued the "Patent Agent Qualification Certificate." The aforementioned persons who have obtained the "Patent Agent Qualification Certificate" can practice in the patent agencies established in the pilot regions, and those who meet the prescribed conditions can join as partners or shareholders of the patent agencies established in the pilot regions.”

Article 48. “Strengthen international cooperation, promote the study and formulation of relevant regulations on the management of representative offices of foreign patent agencies in China, select qualified pilot areas to carry out trials for foreign patent agencies to establish permanent representative offices in China, and introduce international high-level intellectual property service resources . With timely review of past experience, provide practical support for the formulation of relevant measures for management, further promote the expansion of the intellectual property service industry to the outside world, and improve service quality”.

（Source: IPRdaily）