The number of invention patent applications on the Chinese mainland exceeded 1.23 million during the first 10 months of 2020, up 11.2 percent year on year, according to the National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA).

A man looks at the patent granted at Royole in a software town in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. (Photo: Xinhua)

China also saw 55,000 applications filed via the World Intellectual Property Organization's Patent Cooperation Treaty System accepted during the 10-month period, Shen Changyu, head of NIPA, said at the opening ceremony of the 12th China International Patent Fair, which was held Wednesday in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province.

"Intellectual property rights (IPRs) provide strong support to high-quality economic development," Shen said, noting that China will make more efforts to strengthen IPR protection and significantly improve the efficiency of the transfer of sci-tech achievements.