BEIJING -- China has consistently improved its laws and regulations regarding intellectual property rights (IPR) and boosted IPR protection in recent years, an official said Friday.

Tian Lipu, commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, said at the opening ceremony of a week-long campaign to promote IPR awareness that intellectual properties granted and registered by the office have been growing at a fast pace.

"Since the implementation of a national IPR strategy in 2008, the country's market players have become more capable of IPR creation, utilization, protection and management," Tian said.

Intellectual property rights are beginning to show their effects in enhancing national core competitiveness and transforming the country's economic growth model, the commissioner said.

Data show that the number of invention patents granted by the office jumped 26.1 percent year on year to hit 217,000 patents last year.

China also continued to own the largest number of trademarks, with a total of 6.4 million effective registered trademarks by the end of last year, according to Tian.