China stands fourth globally for patents

Guangdong province, Shanghai and Beijing were the most developed regions in China in terms of intellectual property last year, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The annual national intellectual property development report also states that Jiangsu, Hubei and Anhui provinces have developed at the fastest pace in the past five years.

The study, conducted by the National Intellectual Property Development and Research Center, rated the regions by the number of inventions and applications, protection and the social environment of intellectual property.

"In accordance with the economic development level, the eastern region is much more advanced compared with central and western regions of China," said Mao Jinsheng, director of the center under the State Intellectual Property Office.

"Despite the regional difference, China as a whole has been paying great attention to intellectual property and has made continuous progress in the past few years," Mao said on Wednesday, which marked the fifth anniversary of the introduction of the National Intellectual Property Strategy.

Mao said the number of domestic patent applications has risen from 828,000 in 2008 to 2,051,000 last year - the most worldwide since 2011. China stands fourth in the world on the number of international applications, behind the US, Japan and Germany.