BEIJING - The sum spent on research and development (R&D) in China rose 12.4 percent year on year in 2014, an encouraging trend as the country has vowed to seek innovation-led growth, an official report indicated on Thursday.

The Economic and Social Development Report 2014 from the National Bureau of Statistics showed 1.33 trillion yuan ($216.8 billion) was spent on R&D last year, 140.6 billion yuan more than in 2013.

The expenditure accounted for 2.09 percent of China's GDP last year, inching up 0.01 percentage points from 2013, when the ratio exceeded 2 percent for the first time.

Intellectual property watchdogs accepted 2.36 million patent applications in 2014 and granted 1.3 million patents.