NANJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The number of domestic applications for invention patents increased 27.9 percent in 2010 from 2009, said a senior patent official here Tuesday.

The country received more than 391,000 applications for invention patents in 2010, the world's second most, said He Hua, SIPO deputy director, at a meeting attended by heads of local intellectual property rights offices held in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

Among the patents, 74.9 percent were submitted by domestic applicants, he said.

He attributed the increase to the fast economic growth and the country's efforts to foster innovation.

From 2006 to 2010, invention patent applications totaled 1.45 million, 2.6 times that of the figure from 2001 to 2005.

Chinese applicants also submitted 36,000 patent applications abroad under the Patent Cooperation Treaty from 2006 to 2010, ranking the world's fourth most by country, he said.

(Source: news.xinhuanet.com)