A study by the Institute of the German Economy (IW) shows that China has significantly expanded its influence over German inventions recently. The data indicates that 11,300 inventions originally developed in Germany are currently owned by Chinese entities.
Between 2000 and 2022, German inventors filed over 650,000 transnational patents, with 189,000 of these (29 percent) now held by foreign owners. While the United States holds nearly one-third of these patents and Switzerland accounts for around eleven percent, China shows a particularly notable increase. Of all patents originally created in Germany, 11,300 are now classified as Chinese property-a fraction that was negligible around the turn of the millennium. Beijing primarily secures these patents through the acquisition of German companies by state-owned enterprises.
This trend coincides with a weakening of Germany’s domestic innovative capacity. Germany’s share of the global market for transnational patent applications dropped from 22 percent in 2000 to 15 percent in 2022. A key contributing factor is a reduction in German investment in research and development (R&D). In 2000, Germany ranked third globally, investing double what China spent. However, by 2021, it had slid to sixth place, while China has since increased its R&D expenditure twentyfold.
The impact of Chinese influence is particularly evident in mechanical engineering. Within this sector, the number of patent filings rose from 3,300 in 2000 to 4,300 in 2022. A prominent example involved the Chinese Midea Group taking over the Augsburg industrial robotics manufacturer Kuka in 2016.
Oliver Koppel, an IW expert, noted that German corporations also hold patents abroad, stating that this is part of normal competition. However, he warned that Beijing’s acquisitions in the West are often geostrategic, especially since the Chinese domestic market remains largely closed to foreign investors due to negative lists, security checks, and protectionist policies. “This is an imbalance” Koppel cautioned, urging Europe to scrutinize where strategically important technologies are moving.
