China sees surging patent applications

The number of patent applications filed by Chinese for inventions more than doubled in the past five years, said the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPC) on Thursday. 

With government support for innovation and strengthened protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), the number of applications between the start of 2011 and the end of 2015 soared to 4.03 million, more than that in any other country. 

SIPC head Shen Changyu said the office "dealt with" 87,000 cases of IPR infringement in the 2011-2015 period. 

Creativity in China is also being recognized by the world. Chinese submitted 117,000 international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty between 2011 and 2015, 2.2 times the amount in the previous five years, Shen said.