The global nanotech scene is heating up, and the Chinese mainland is sprinting ahead. A white paper released at a Beijing forum on nanoscience finds that the region claims 43% of all nanotechnology patents granted worldwide in the last 25 years—outpacing the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea combined.
From 2000 to 2025, inventors secured more than 1.07 million patents in areas shrinking down to the nanoscale. Of those, 464,000 originate from the Chinese mainland, showcasing a strategic push into semiconductor devices, catalytic chemistry, biomedicine and next-generation materials.
Hotspots like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Suzhou dominate semiconductor breakthroughs, while biomedicine patents flourish in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Leading the charge is the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which holds some 23,400 nanotech patents—more than any other institution.
But holding patents is only half the story. Commercial impact is growing: the licensing rate for nanotechnology patents in the Chinese mainland has topped 8%, reflecting faster technology transfer from labs to startups and factories.
The nanotech ecosystem here now boasts over 34,500 enterprises, including 739 publicly listed companies and nearly 9.92 million industry professionals. Analysts predict the global nanotechnology market will balloon to $1.5 trillion by 2025, driven by a 17% annual growth rate since 2018.
This deep dive into the nanotech boom was part of a sub-forum at the 10th International Conference on Nanoscience and Technology, hosted by the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China. For entrepreneurs, researchers and curious travelers alike, the Chinese mainland’s nanotech surge highlights how the future of tech is being built one atom at a time.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
