Foreigners have more patents granted in China

China saw rapid growth of patents and trademarks granted to foreigners in 2021, an official from the country's top intellectual property (IP) regulator said on Wednesday.

The number of invention patents granted to applicants from foreign countries reached 110,000, up 23 percent from the previous year, and over 194,000 trademarks were registered by foreign applicants, up 5.2 percent year on year, said Hu Wenhui, spokesperson for the National Intellectual Property Administration.

The number of patents granted to applicants from the United States rose 32.1 percent and the number of trademarks registered by U.S. applicants went up 17.3 percent.

"This continued growth of foreign IP granted shows the confidence of foreign enterprises in China's IP protection and business environment," Hu said.