The Jinan government issued a series of intellectual property protection policies to promote innovation among local small and media-sized enterprises innovation at a news conference on April 21.

SMEs can receive financial support via intellectual property rights pledge, which can reduce loan interest rates.

Intellectual property service agencies will be sent by the local government to provide free IP hosting services which will help SMEs use, protect and manage intellectual property rights.

Due to the lack of innovation among some SMEs, the city will host docking conferences for SMEs and universities to help SMEs select IP projects in colleges and promote industry-university-research cooperation.

Jinan has been continuing to increase investment in IP rights in recent years. In 2019, the government's expenditure on intellectual property reached 42.28 million yuan ($5.96 million), up 40 percent from the previous year.

A total of 46,563 new patent applications were filed in 2019, up 18.74 percent year on year.

An additional 60,734 trademarks were registered in Jinan, up 50.2 percent year on year. Two patents won Chinese patent gold medals, ranking first in Shandong province.