BEIJING -- Increased international competitiveness in the area of intellectual property (IP) is one of China's achievements in transforming from a big IP importer to an innovator, said the National Intellectual Property Administration Wednesday in Beijing.

To summarize the achievements, Lei Xiaoyun, a senior official with the administration, cited three indicators, one being the trade of China's IP royalties, which was close to 280 billion yuan (about $44 billion) in the first three quarters of this year. The export volume of IP royalties, in particular, increased over 27 percent year on year.

The second one is the Global Innovation Index by the World Intellectual Property Organization, in which China climbed to 12th this year, up two notches from 14th in 2020, ranking first among the world's mid-income economies.

"China has risen 23 places in the rankings since 2012. The continuous growth reflects China's decades-long commitment to investing in science, technology and education, as well as its progress in building a modern and effective IP system," Lei noted.

The third indicator is China's IP pledge financing, or the use of IP assets (trademarks and patents) to gain access to credit, which reached 240.77 billion yuan between January and October, up 50.6 percent year on year, already exceeding the total amount of that in 2020, according to Lei.