China has become the only country witnessing an increase in the number of patents granted by the United States in 2018, according to a recent report from leading global patent database IFI Claims Patent Services. The decline in utility grants affected all other regions of the world, while China maintained growth last year, the report noted. While Chinese companies' granted patents surged by 12% year-on-year to 12,589 in 2018, the total number still represents a small share. In 2018, China only held 4% of US grants. The US took the top spot in the 2018 rankings, holding a 46% share of 2018 grants, followed by Japan and South Korea with 16% and 6.5% of US grants, respectively. Notably, Shenzhen, Guangdong province-based technology giant Huawei had 16th place in the 2018 rankings, gaining 1,680 granted patents. Beijing-based BOE Technology ranked 17th in the list with 1,634 US patents. A recent report released by PwC's strategy consulting business Strategy& said that Chinese companies R&D spending increased by 34.4% in 2018 to total $60.08 billion, marking the largest growth globally. The report is based on an annual analysis of the 1,000 biggest global public companies by R&D spend.

Source: China Daily