EUROPEAN patent applications from Chinese companies hit a record 16,665 in 2021, the Munich-based European Patent Office (EPO) said Tuesday.

The EPO recorded 188,600 patent applications from all over the world last year, 4.5% more than in 2020. Chinese companies recorded the highest growth rate of 24% among the 30 leading patent filing countries.

“Over the past 10 years in the EPO, we’ve seen that the number of patent applications from Chinese companies has increased fourfold by 2021,” said Aidan Kendrick, the EPO’s chief business analyst.

“In 2021, the rate of increase was some 24%, which represents an extremely dynamic development.”

Digital communications accounted for the most applications, with Chinese companies already the biggest patent filers, accounting for 29% in 2021.

Chinese tech giant Huawei filed more patent applications – 3,544 – in 2021 than any other company, ahead of Samsung and LG from South Korea.

For the first time, the top six Chinese tech companies, including Oppo, ZTE, Baidu, Xiaomi and Tencent, were listed among the 50 largest European patent applicants.

In other fields, such as biotechnology and audio-visual technology, filings by Chinese companies skyrocketed as high as 75%.(Xinhua)