The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China published on July 3 2020 the second draft of the Patent Law amendment (the Second Draft) for public comments. A comparative study with the First Draft published on January 4 2019 reveals a few intriguing findings. Realigning its provisions with the Phase One US-China Economic and Trade Agreement, the Second Draft amends clauses concerning patent term extension and introduces for the first time the patent linkage system both in the context of regulatory review of a new drug and patent infringement disputes.