The number of patents is an important indicator to measure a country's scientific and technological level. In recent years, the number of patent applications in China has been the first in the world, and now the quality is also improving. WIPO believes that the number of valid patents in China has surpassed the United States and become the first in the world.

According to a recent report by the World Intellectual Property Organization, while the world economy has been affected by the pandemic,But countries' intellectual property claims remained strong, setting a new record in 2021.

In 2021, innovators around the world filed 3.4 million patent applications, up 3.6 percent year on year. Asia's bureaus accounted for 67.6 percent of the world's total applications, with China (+5.5 percent), South Korea (+2.5 percent) and India (+5.5 percent) being the main drivers of growth.

Of the 3.4 million patent applications, the State Intellectual Property Office of China accepted 1.59 million patent applications in 2021, which is similar to the combined number of the 12 administrative offices that ranked second to 13th, and far ahead of other countries.

It was followed by 591,000 in the U.S., 289,000 in Japan, 238,000 in Korea and 189,000 in Europe. These five regions accounted for 85.1 percent of global patent applications.

In addition to the total number of patents, China also achieved a breakthrough in the number of valid patents this time. WIPO recognized that the number of valid patents worldwide in 2021 is 16.5 million, an increase of 4.2% year on year.

In countries,With 3.6 million patents in force, China surpassed the United States to become the jurisdiction with the largest number of patents in force in 2021, followed by the United States (3.3 million), Japan (2 million), South Korea (1.2 million) and Germany (877,763).