Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. has got more than 8,000 patents with one tenth of them registered in 20 countries and regions outside China, mainly in the United States and Europe, said sources with the company Tuesday.

Statistics with the State Intellectual Property Office show that in the first half this year, Huawei ranked the first among domestic companies in the number of patents registered, with a total of 1,231 patents.

Huawei predicted that the company would get over 3,000 patents this year with over 500 of them abroad.

Being China's largest telecom equipment manufacturer, the company has been ranking the first in the number of patents since 2002. With over 500 patents registered every year, Huawei has maintained the same level with multinationals in the industry.

To support development of its overseas market, Huawei has chosen developed countries and regions as key area of its patent application. Up to date, Huawei has made over 200 patent applications in the United States and Europe.

The company would make over 100 patent applications every year in those countries and regions in the future, said sources with Huawei.

Huawei invests over 4 billion yuan (around 493 million US dollars) every year into research and development. Apart from Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an and Chengdu, Huawei also set up five research institutes abroad, respectively located in the Silicon Valley and Dallas of the US, Sweden, India and Russia.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2005)