Shenzhen ranks second among Chinese cities in terms of the number of patents issued, yesterday's Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

A total of 13,689 patents were awarded to companies and individuals in Shenzhen in the first half of this year, up 70 percent from the same period last year. Shanghai came in first, with 14,428 patents awarded.

Patents for inventions awarded to Shenzhen companies totaled 6,378 during the January-June period, up 120 percent from a year ago and representing an average of 75 invention patents issued daily.

Officials with the Shenzhen Municipal Intellectual Property Bureau attributed the surge in the number of invention-related patents awarded to the efforts made by some Shenzhen enterprises in independent innovation.

Authorities in Shenzhen have attached great importance to independent innovation in recent years, the Daily report said. At the end of last year, the municipal government published the blueprint for Shenzhen's intellectual property strategy and issued a clear guidance for the city's intellectual property protection in the coming five years.

(Shenzhen Daily August 1, 2006)