According to the official statistics of the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO), a total of 976,686 patent applications were filed with the SIPO in 2009, an increase of 17.9% over 2008. Of the total patent applications, 89.9% were filed by Chinese domestic applicants, which increased by 22.4% over the previous year, while 10.1% were filed by foreign applicants, a decrease of 10.9%. As to the structure of the patent applications, the proportion of patent applications for invention increased by 17.7% over 2008, that for utility model went up by 37.9% and that for design grew by 13.7%.

In 2009, the SIPO granted 581,992 patents, a growth of 41.2% over 2008. Of the total number of granted patents, 501,786 ones (86.2%) were owned by Chinese domestic entities and individuals, and 80,206 (13.8%) ones were owned by foreign entities and individuals.

In addition to the steady and rapid increase of the total number of patent applications with the SIPO, the structure of domestic patent applications and grants was further optimized. The rapid increase of the total grants also reflected the significant reinforcement of the examination capacity of the SIPO.