BEIJING - China has been the world leader in applications for patent for invention for seven consecutive years, said Wan Gang, president of the China Association for Science and Technology.

China's mainland held about 1.36 million patents for invention by the end of 2017, meaning on average 9.8 patents for invention per 10,000 people, according to the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO).

"We need to step up protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in a bid to promote innovation and improve the business environment," said Shen Changyu, director of the SIPO.

China has a national system for protecting IPR.

"China's input on research and development rose to the second highest in the world in 2017," said Wan, adding that the number of full-time research and development personnel in China now ranks the highest in the world.