China is expected to lead in global patent activities by 2011, with significant rises in both the quality and quantity of patents, a Thomson Reuters analysis on intellectual property showed.

The report, published Monday by the IP Solutions business of the world's leading information source for businesses and professionals, said based on the total volume of first-patent filings in China, Europe, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States, both the U.S. and Japan will soon to be eclipsed by China's rising tide of patent applications.

China's patent applications by volume rose by 26.1 percent annually from 2003 to 2009, compared with its closest rival, the U.S., which showed a 5.5 percent growth rate, noted the report.

Further, according to the report, China's acceleration in innovation is government-driven, as the Chinese government has pledged to make the nation an innovation-centered economy through several incentives such as R&D tax deductions.

The report pointed out that the quality of Chinese patents is also slowly improving, as approximately half of all Chinese patents filed in 2009 were utility models, which are less-rigorous and more-affordable.

Besides, a major shift is taking place in Chinese patent filings as the country's economic landscape changes, it said, noting that agriculture-centered innovation, which is related to food production, is growing much more slowly than high-technology innovations.

There was a 4,861 percent increase in domestic Chinese patent applications in digital computers in the decade from 1998 to 2008, compared with a much more modest increase of 552 percent in those of natural products and polymers during the same period, the report said.