BEIJING, June 4-- China's intellectual property (IP)development continued to improve in 2014, according to a report released by the country's intellectual property watchdog on Thursday.

The index for the country's IP development, based on the evaluation of IP creation, utilization, protection, as well as the environment of IP development, stands at 63.74 points in 2014, up 0.98 points year on year, according to the annual report released by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO).

The development of intellectual property saw obvious imbalances among provincial regions, with Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu standing out.

China's IP development performance ranked 9th in 2013 from 19th in 2008 among 40 countries, with remarkable progress in IP development capability and performance, the report said.

However, China still lags behind developed countries such as the United States and Japan in intellectual property protection (IPR), according to Han Xiucheng, head of a research center with SIPO.

The main reason is the unsound market and cultural environment for IPR, Han added.