Innovation in Chinese enterprises is steadily increasing with more patents filed and more funds invested in research and development (R&D), the China Enterprise Confederation (CEC) said Saturday.

The top 500 Chinese enterprises possessed 169,000 patents in 2010, up 13.3 percent from last year, according to a report released by the CEC.

Among the top 500 companies, 41 had more than 1,000 patents, while 36 companies owned more than 200 patents for innovations, the report said.

Chinese enterprises were also investing a larger share of their revenues into R&D.

Each of the top 500 firms allocated, on average, 775 million yuan ($113.93 million) into R&D, an increase of 14.4 percent from 2009 and accounting for 1.4 percent of their total revenues, the CEC said.

Of the 500 firms, 17 spent more than five percent of their revenues on R&D, while another 60 enterprises invested from five to 10 percent of their revenues into R&D, according to the report.

In 2009, China filed 7,946 international patents, up 29.7 percent from 2008 and ranking fifth in the world, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

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