In the first half of 2012, China received 857,000 applications for the three types of patents—invention patents, utility models and designs—an increase of 26.8% over the same period of the previous year. The number granted rose 19.1% to 530,000. Both applications and grants continued to grow.

Application growth slowed from 44.8% in the first half of 2011 to 26.8% in the first half of 2012. The growth rate for grants was 4.9 percentage points lower than a year earlier. Invention patent grants nevertheless increased by 28.9%, maintaining rapid growth.

The following charts show first-half applications and grants for 2008–2012. Orange represents invention patents, pale yellow utility models, blue designs, and the red line the combined total. The unit is 10,000; individual patent types use the left axis and the total uses the right axis.

First-half applications, 2008–2012: totals of 346,000; 426,000; 467,000; 676,000; and 857,000.
First-half applications, 2008–2012: totals of 346,000; 426,000; 467,000; 676,000; and 857,000.
First-half grants, 2008–2012: totals of 192,000; 252,000; 359,000; 445,000; and 530,000.
First-half grants, 2008–2012: totals of 192,000; 252,000; 359,000; 445,000; and 530,000.