Staff members debug a humanoid robot at a robot company in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, June 25, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

China ranked first worldwide in terms of the number of invention patent grants within the core industries of the digital economy in 2024, with a growth rate notably exceeding the global average, the country's top intellectual property (IP) regulator said on Thursday.

According to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), the number of authorized invention patents in these industries had reached 500,000 last year, recording a year-on-year increase of 23.1 percent.

This data was released at the ongoing 14th China Intellectual Property Annual Conference, themed "IP in the Digital Age."

The CNIPA noted this progress in the AI industry, saying that China has emerged as the leading country in terms of AI-related patent holdings globally, accounting for 60 percent of the world total.

It also highlighted the growth of international patents, saying that the number of overseas invention patents granted to the core industries of China's digital economy had increased from 21,000 in 2016 to 52,000 in 2024.

Meanwhile, the number of foreign enterprises applying for invention patents in these industries in China has also been rising steadily. As of the end of last year, 95 countries and regions had obtained valid invention patents in the core industries of the digital economy in China. The number of such patents amounted to 407,000, accounting for 43.7 percent of the total valid invention patents held by foreign innovators in China.

"This fully demonstrates that foreign enterprises are confident in the future development of China's digital economy," said Shen Changyu, head of the CNIPA.