According to the official data revealed by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), China handled over 1.1 million patent applications for invention last year, up 18.7 percent year on year.
 About 359,000 patents for invention were granted, among which 263,000 patents were granted to domestic applicants, 100,000 more than in 2014, indicating an increase of 61.9%. Of all the patents for invention granted in 2015, 60.5% went to Chinese enterprises. 
China's top oil-refiner Sinopec obtained 2,844 patents, the most among all Chinese firms, followed by telecom giants ZTE and Huawei. The tables below show some of the statistics regarding patents/patent applications for invention.

Top 10 Regions of China for Patent Applications

Rank Provinces Number
1 Jiangsu 154,608
2 Guangdong 103,941
3 Shandong 93,475
4 Beijing 88,930
5 Anhui 68,314
6 Zhejiang 67,674
7 Shanghai 46,976
8 Sichuan 40,437
9 Chongqing 35,086
10 Guangxi 30,815

Top 10 Regions of China for Grants

Rank Provinces Number
1 Jiangsu 36,015
2 Beijing 35,308
3 Guangdong 33,477
4 Zhejiang 23,345
5 Shanghai 17,601
6 Shandong 16,881
7 Anhui 11,180
8 Sichuan 9,105
9 Hubei 7,766
10 Shanxi 6,812

Top 10 Domestic Patent Applicants

Rank Applicants Number
1 State Grid Co. 6,111
2 China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation 4,372
3 ZTE Corporation 3,516
4 Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Co., ltd 3,338
5 Huawei Technology Co., Ltd. 3,216
6 Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd. 3,183
7 Beijing QihooTechnology Co. Ltd. 2,777
8 BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. 2,761
9 Zhuhai Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. 1,981
10 Lenovo (Beijing) Limited 1,826

Top 10 Domestic Patentees

Rank Patentees Number
1 China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation 2,844
2 ZTE Corporation 2,673
3 Huawei TechnologyCo., Ltd. 2,413
4 State Grid Co. 2,081
5 BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. 1,115
6 Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. 728
7 PetroChina Company Limited 641
8 Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Ltd. 596
9 Tencent, Inc. 581
10 BYD Company Limited 509

Top 10 Foreign Patent Applicants

Rank Applicants Number
1 Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. 2,742
2 Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. 2,117
3 Qualcomm Incorporated 1,943
4 Toyota Motor Corporation 1,921
5 Robert Bosch GmbH 1,480
6 Hyundai Motor Ltd. 1,441
7 Intel Corporation 1,258
8 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation 1,210
9 Canon Inc. 1,167
10 KONINKLIKE Philips Electronics N. V. 1,161

Top 10 Foreign Patentees

Rank Patentees Number
1 Qualcomm Incorporated 1,350
2 Canon Inc. 1,273
3 Toyota Motor Corporation 1,240
4 Panasonic Co., Ltd. 1,117
5 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation 1,095
6 General Motors Global Technology Operation Co., Ltd. 1,005
7 Robert Bosch GmbH 940
8 KONINKLIKE Philips Electronics N. V. 920
9 Siemens Ltd. 915
10 Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. 912

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