The Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone – located in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province – received a significant amount of recognition at the recent Anhui provincial patent awards list.

The zone was handed 53 awards, accounting for over one sixth of the province's awards and over 50 percent of the city's awards.

It was the first time in the past three years that the number of awards going to the zone exceeded 50.

The awards received by the zone include five gold patents, accounting for 25 percent of the province's gold awards and one gold design award, accounting for over 30 percent of the province's gold design awards.

In addition, the zone received seven silver patents, accounting for 23.3 percent of the province's silver awards and two silver design awards, accounting for 40 percent of the province's silver design awards.

Furthermore, the zone received 35 patent excellence awards, accounting for 14.89 percent in the province, as well as seven design excellence awards, accounting for over 40 percent of the total.

The zone has made intellectual property rights a core focus for regional innovation and development, resulting in an 11.53 percent year-on-year increase in new patent authorizations in the first half of the year.

In the six months, the zone obtained 7,497 new patent authorizations, accounting for nearly a quarter of the city's total.

Moving forwards, it plans to continue to focus on key industries and enterprises to boost intellectual property management and improve the business environment.