People attend the China Development Forum in Beijing, China, March 23, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

(Reuters) - China will reduce the time needed for patent review by at least 15 percent in 2019, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The review time for trademarks will also be reduced to within 5 months, Xinhua reported without giving further details on the trademark or patent review timeframes. It was citing remarks made by the deputy head of National Intellectual Property Administration, Gan Shaoning, at the 20th China Development Forum.

The administration will further strengthen protection of intellectual property by optimizing the mechanisms governing intellectual property, raising the costs for IP infringements, and treating all market entities as equals in terms of IP protection, Xinhua reported citing Gan.