BEIJING - China had more invention patent applications than any other country in 2014 for the fourth year running, official data showed on Monday.

The number of invention patent applications filed to the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) in 2014 stood at 928,000, up 12.5 percent from 2013, the SIPO said.

The office authorized a total of 233,000 invention patents in the year, 163,000 of which were from Chinese applicants.

By the end of 2014, China had 663,000 invention patents with high quality and market value, and the number of invention patents per 10,000 Chinese people reached 4.9, the SIPO said.

China has seen rising numbers of patent applications as part of a drive to upgrade the economy. However, the country's invention patents still lack a competitive edge, experts said.

One of the government's priorities has been to boost innovation by improving intellectual property rights protection.