China's National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) has approved the establishment of two new centers for intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, which brings the total number of centers nationwide to 36.

The two protection centers will be set up in northwest China's Gansu Province and Yunnan Province's Kunming City in southwest China. The establishment of these facilities will be the first of its kind built in these provinces, but they will join the ranks of three other centers in the country's western region.

The center in Gansu will provide IPR protection services for the advanced manufacturing, energy-saving and environmental protection industries, while the other will serve industries focusing on biological products manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing.

The NIPA and local governments launched the collaborative protection of IPR in 2016, with the aim to resolve problems in obtaining evidence and reducing the duration and cost involved in IPR protection cases.