BEIJING - The market share of Chinese-developed phone screens saw a notable rise in the first half of 2017, thanks to technical breakthroughs by the country's manufacturers.

China's smartphone shipments hit 226 million during the period, more than 66 percent of which used domestically made screens, up 14.1 percent compared with the same period in 2015, according to a report released by the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology.

China's Tianma Micro-electronics, surpassing Japan Display Inc., topped the country's phone screen market during the period.

China's domestically produced screens also gained momentum in the high-end cellphone market in the first six months. About 19 percent of Chinese smartphones worth more than 3,000 yuan ($445) used homemade screens, up 10 percent year on year.

Screen technology is a weak part of China's mobile phone industry. Domestic brands have been devoted to screen innovation in recent years and actively involved in the expansion of new production lines, the report said.