By the end of November 2011, a total of 684,163 valid patents had been authorized by SIPO in China, among which 342,466 are domestic patents, amounting to 50.1% of the total number. This is the first time China's domestic valid invention patents have surpassed those submitted by foreign applicants. According to the experts, the fact that the numbers of China's domestic invention patent applications, granted invention patents and valid invention patents have all surpassed the foreign invention patent statistics marks that China's patent work has entered a new stage.