GUANGZHOU - China recorded extraordinary growth of international patent applications in 2016, increasing 44.7 percent year on year, according to a report by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

China filed about 43,168 applications through Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 2016, ranking third after the United States and Japan, the WIPO said.

China has posted double-digit growth each year since 2002 and will overtake the U.S. within two years as the largest user of the PCT system if this trend continues, the organization said.

China's telecoms giants ZTE Corporation, publishing 4,123 PCT applications, and Huawei Technologies with 3,692, occupied the top two spots in the list of top PCT applicants, with ZTE moving up two spots to push Huawei out of the leader's position.

Meanwhile, China saw the fastest growth of international trademark applications using WIPO's Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks in 2016, rising 68.6 percent year on year.

Founded in 1967, The WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information and cooperation.