China had over 1 million patent applications last year, according to figures from the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO). China handled more patent applications for inventions than any other countries for the fifth year running in 2015. About 359,000 invention patents were authorized, 263,000 of which were granted to domestic applicants.
 

Of all the invention patents authorized in 2015, 60.5 percent went to Chinese enterprises, an annual increase of 4.1 percentage points. Sinopec obtained 2,844 patents in 2015, the most among all Chinese mainland firms.