The number of patent application for invention made in China grew more than 20 percent this year, according to the Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office, Tian Lipu.

"Though the growth rate this year is a bit lower than last year, the quality has been improved," Tian told a press conference on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

He said that in 2011, China received 526,000 patent applications, accounting for a quarter of the world's applications. In 2001, the number had been 40,000, representing a twentieth of the global total, Tian said.