Why geographical indications sit in a layer of their own

A regional speciality — a wine, a tea, a cured ham, a ceramic — carries two kinds of value at once. There is the name it is sold under, and there is the place and the method that make the name mean something. A registered trademark covers the first. It does not, by itself, cover the second.

China treats the two as related but distinct, and for foreign producers selling into the Chinese market the distinction is practical. A brand can hold sound registered marks and still find that the geographical term attached to its product is governed by a separate framework — one run by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), with its own resource records, its own quality controls and its own enforcement tools.

That framework was extended in January 2024, when CNIPA issued the Implementation Plan for the Geographical Indication Protection Project. The plan sets out how the office intends to build protection capacity around geographical indications. The office's published interpretation of the plan describes its background, its design and its seven task areas, and it is the reference for what follows.

Set alongside existing work, not apart from it

The plan was drafted to sit alongside work already under way. The office notes that implementing a geographical indication protection project was written into the Outline for Building an Intellectual Property Powerhouse (2021–2035), and that the project appears among the fifteen dedicated projects in the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Intellectual Property Protection and Utilisation.

Earlier steps had already been taken: guidance issued jointly with the State Administration for Market Regulation on further strengthening geographical indication protection, and the first five-year plan in this field. Since then the office has run a pilot reform of approvals for the use of the dedicated geographical indication sign, built national demonstration zones for the protection of geographical indication products, and worked on implementing the China–EU agreement on mutual recognition and protection.

The plan's own design has three threads: setting overall requirements and targets; combining a target-driven with a problem-driven approach; and coordinating the project with the demonstration zones and with the geographical indication use-promotion project, covering both dedicated protection and protection through a trademark.

The seven task areas

The plan gathers its work under seven headings. Each is a direction rather than a single measure, and project applicants later choose from among the items beneath them.

Building the institutional base. Promote local dedicated regulations for geographical indication protection, improve the standards system and tighten the policy framework for protection and management. The plan also points to protecting geo-authentic Chinese medicinal materials and intangible cultural heritage through geographical indication tools.

Coordinating the protection mechanism. Align dedicated protection with protection through a trademark, and with the registration of animal and plant varieties and of enterprise names. Explore mechanisms for grading production areas and for grading the quality and character of products.

Building an inventory of protected resources. Survey geographical indication resources, collecting base data and representative physical materials, and build protection archives that connect resource data across different types and different departments.

Strengthening quality assurance. Encourage traceability mechanisms for origin, build a quality assurance system, and select and publish a list of testing bodies able to check speciality quality.

Tightening supervision. Run online monitoring for leads on geographical indication infringement in e-commerce, improve complaint and reporting channels, and hold periodic protection campaigns with published typical cases.

Promoting broader development. Link this project with the use-promotion project, encourage geographical indications to develop alongside time-honoured brands and intangible cultural heritage, and support geographical indication tourism projects and routes, industrial tourism and tourism bases.

Reinforcing the foundations. Train protection personnel, form expert teams, and strengthen brand communication and the circulation of geographical indication information.

How a project is applied for, run and verified

The plan sets out a specific operating cycle. CNIPA organises project applications every year. Provincial intellectual property departments review and recommend candidates, and CNIPA approves them; implementation is carried out by intellectual property departments at county level and above.

One detail matters for anyone reading the plan closely: an implementing unit must choose at least two of the specific project items described under the plan's task areas, not one, and must complete the work within one year.

Approved projects receive business guidance and policy support from the office. Those that perform well are given priority consideration when national demonstration zones for the protection of geographical indication products are assessed. Local intellectual property departments are expected to provide resource support, arrange expert guidance and coordinate the resolution of difficulties that arise.

Verification is explicit in the plan. Implementation is tracked and monitored, and acceptance evaluations are organised. Projects that pass evaluation are entered into the list of indications selected for the national geographical indication protection project, and the results of the work feed into the annual assessment of intellectual property protection.

What shifts in the market

Two of the plan's directions have consequences outside the office.

The first is supervision online. Monitoring e-commerce for leads on infringement, a clearer complaint and reporting mechanism, and periodic campaigns that publish typical cases together change the practical environment for anyone selling a protected name through Chinese online channels.

The second is quality and traceability. Encouraging origin traceability, building a quality assurance system and publishing a list of recognised testing bodies all push the same way: towards a documented connection between a product, its place of origin and its stated character.

The plan also reaches the demand side. By linking geographical indications with time-honoured brands, cultural heritage and tourism, it treats a protected regional name as an economic and cultural asset rather than only a compliance matter.

Frequently asked questions

Is a geographical indication the same as a trademark in China?

No. The plan treats dedicated geographical indication protection and protection through a trademark as two routes, and calls for the two to be coordinated — together with the registration of animal and plant varieties and of enterprise names. It also looks to mechanisms for grading production areas and for grading the quality and character of products, setting the indicators and requirements for each grade.

How much work must a project cover?

An implementing unit must select at least two of the specific project items set out under the plan's task areas, and must complete them within one year. Applications are organised annually: provincial intellectual property departments review and recommend candidates, and CNIPA approves them.

What happens to a project that passes evaluation?

It is entered into the list of indications selected for the national geographical indication protection project. Projects that perform well are also given priority consideration when national demonstration zones for the protection of geographical indication products are assessed, and the results of the work feed into the annual assessment of intellectual property protection.

Who watches the market?

Supervision in the plan is practical rather than abstract. It provides for online monitoring of leads on geographical indication infringement in e-commerce, for improved complaint and reporting channels, and for periodic protection campaigns whose typical cases are published.

What is the resource inventory for?

A survey of geographical indication resources collects base data and representative physical materials. The plan then builds protection archives that connect resource data across different types of indication and different departments. The inventory is one of the seven task areas, alongside the institutional base, the coordinating mechanism, quality assurance, supervision, broader development and the workforce.

Official sources

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