The growth in filings of Chinese patents abroad has increased significantly since 2000, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

A WIPO report released on May 23 noted that between 2000 and 2005, the average annual growth rate of overseas patent filings by applicants from China reached 40 percent, and has continued to grow by 23 percent since 2005.

WIPO spokesperson Edward Harris attributed the increase to improved quality of innovations and inventions in China.

In terms of absolute numbers, the United States is the largest recipient of Chinese foreign-oriented patent filings, with close to 50,000 applications between 1970 and 2012, followed by Europe, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Canada.

Statistics also showed that almost 70 percent of Chinese patent families filed overseas were owned by firms, while the share of universities and research institutes claimed around 6 percent.

The report said that digital communication, computer technology, nanotechnology, semiconductors as well as telecommunications were the fastest growing fields among Chinese foreign-oriented patent families between 2000 and 2009.