China ranks first in int'l patent application volume: WIPO

(ECNS) -- China ranks first with an international patent application volume of 69,540, according to the latest report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

WIPO data shows Chinese applications are nearly 10,000 more than that of the U.S. and about 20,000 more than Japan.

The rise of China's innovation-oriented economy is not only reflected in the rise of one or two indicators, but also in all directions of the innovation ecosystem, with China having become an essential pole on the global innovation map, said Liu Hua, director of the WIPO office in China.

Newly certified national enterprise technology centers in central and western China account for 30 percent of the total number in the country. Innovation resources distribution in China is better integrated with national industrial layout. And its allocation is more balanced and coordinated in the country, said Bai Jingyu, director of the Center of Innovation-driven Development of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Data from National Bureau of Statistic (NBS) shows that in 2021, national spending on R&D increased by 14.2 percent to 2,786.4 billion yuan (about $441 billion), four percent more than the previous year. Basic research expenditure increased even more, with a growth rate of 15.6 percent, 5.8 percent more than the previous year.

Major breakthroughs have been made in many original innovation fields like space exploration, nuclear physics, quantum science, bioengineering, etc.

Meanwhile, innovation is leading China's economic development. According to NBS, in 2021, the added value of high-tech manufacturing saw an18.2 percent year-on-year increase, profit increased by 48.4 percent, while the contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to economic growth exceeded 60 percent.