China saw rapid growth in the number of patents and trademarks granted to foreigners in 2021, an official from the country's top intellectual property (IP) regulator said on Wednesday.

The number of invention patents granted on applicants from foreign countries reached 110,000, up 23 percent from the previous year, and over 194,000 trademarks were registered by foreign applicants, up 5.2 percent year on year, said Hu Wenhui, spokesperson for the National Intellectual Property Administration.

The number of patents granted to applicants from the United States rose by 32.1 percent, and the number of trademarks registered by U.S. applicants went up by 17.3 percent.

"This continued growth of foreign IP granted shows the confidence of foreign enterprises in China's IP protection and business environment," Hu said.

In addition, China's domestic enterprises were granted 1.91 million patents in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 22.6 percent. As of the end of 2021, a total of 298,000 Chinese enterprises owned valid patents, an increase of 52,000 compared with the 2020 figure, according to the IP regulator.

Information technology management, computer technology and medical technology were the three areas with the fastest growth of the number of valid patents, Hu said.

(With input from Xinhua)