Patent applications, R&D spending up sharply

The number of invention patents applied for in China increased by more than 20 percent this year, exhibiting the fastest growth rate for that activity seen anywhere in the world, Tian Lipu, commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, said on Sunday.

"Although the growth rate for this year is a bit lower than for last year, the quality has improved," Tian said at a news conference held on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

The number of patents applied for in the country has increased rapidly over the past decade. In 2011, China received 526,000 patent applications, a fourth of the total submitted in the world. A decade earlier, the number was around 40,000, making up only 5 percent of the world's total, Tian said.

Tian said the large number in 2011 suggests that businesses are aware of the value of intellectual property rights.

That year, Chinese people held 350,000 patents, and foreign companies and individuals in the country had a similar number, Tian said.

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