China's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) received a record 1.54 million patent applications in 2018, making it responsible for 46.4 percent of all patent applications globally, as part of China's core technology self-reliance plan.
China's patent application activity grew by 11.6 percent last year, and the number of filings was roughly equal to the total number of countries ranked second to eleventh as the country sought to ease US pressure on trade and technology.
The United States ranked second with 597,141 files, followed by Japan with 31,567, South Korea with 20,9992 and the European Patent Office with 174,397, according to a report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
China is the main driver of global growth of IP filings in recent years, and China has been the main source of growth in global IP filings in 2018, the organization said.
The organization highlighted that the United States is still the country that seeks the most foreign protection for intellectual property developed by American individuals and companies, with US applicants filing nearly 230,000 patent applications abroad, more than three times as many as China.
Technology companies obtained most of the patents granted last year, according to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) report.
Huawei, China's leading telecommunications equipment provider, ranked first with 3369 patents.
Top 10 companies included many technology companies, such as Oppo for smartphones, BOE for LCD manufacturing, Gree for electrical appliances, Lenovo for computers, Tencent and ZTE.
Although the order numbers do not necessarily match the tremendous progress in innovation, the overall number suggests that China is seriously trying to become more self-sufficient in core technology.
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