Data from the World Intellectual Property Organization show that international trademark applications from China via the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks increased by nearly 30 percent compared with a year earlier, to more than 3,000 in 2016. It was the first time for China to join the top five on the Madrid chart with its record high in annual filings. Since China joined the agreement in 1989, it has long retained its position among the top 10 in terms of annual filings worldwide in the Madrid system.