Recently, the Guangdong Intellectual Property Protection Center released the Notice from Guangdong Provincial Intellectual Property Protection Center on Actively Promoting the Organic Integration of Patent Pre-examination and Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH). The Notice explicitly links requesting pre-examination of a patent application in Guangdong to enable a quick allowance at the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and then quick examination via the PPH at foreign patent offices.  Pre-examination, which is free, can yield a Chinese patent within about 2-3 months from filing. Foreign companies are not eligible to use pre-examination unless they apply in the name of a subsidiary in China.

                                                                                                                      Source. Guangdong Intellectual Property Protection