Beijing will set up 40 service centers offering advice and funding for people who cannot afford to apply for intellectual property rights (IPR) protection as part of efforts to better enforce IPR within China, state media reported. Making the announcement, Tian Lipu, the State Intellectual Property Office commissioner, added that high-tech enterprises will be a high priority under the new IPR mechanisms. Domestic companies and research institutes submitted 5,401 applications for patents last year, up 38% year-on-year, with a majority coming from the fields of traditional Chinese medicine and food and beverages. Foreign firms, by contrast, submitted 92,000 applications, up 4.5% year-on-year.