BEIJING - China's patent applications will further increase this year as the number for the first nine months has been close to last year's total, said a patent official Wednesday.

Li Yuguang, deputy director of China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), said at a seminar that the office had received 1.09 million patent applications by the end of September, 704,000 of which were granted.

"Patent applications have been growing rapidly since the government announced a strategic program concerning intellectual property rights in 2008," Li said.

The deputy director added governments at all levels have attached great significance to intellectual property rights, which has boosted the people's creativity and led to the rapid growth in patent applications.

In 2010, total patent applications filed to the SIPO climbed 25.1 percent from a year earlier to 1.22 million cases, according to data from the office.