BERLIN, June 28 -- China has become the world's leading patent power, contributing nearly half of all patent applications filed in 2022, according to a new German report released on Friday.

A total of 3.4 million patent applications were approved worldwide in 2022. This is a dramatic increase from 635,000 in 1980, among which only 44 applications had come from China, according to the German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (vfa).

It noted that China was "largely responsible" for the more than five-fold increase in the total number of patent applications in the last 40 years.

"China's rise as a hub of business and innovation is rapid," said vfa Chief Economist Claus Michelsen, adding that the country's scientific development and the resulting patenting activity "are unprecedented in recent economic history."

Since the turn of the millennium, China has built up a science and innovation system reflected in the significant increase in the number of college or university students in the country, according to the vfa. From 7 million in 2000, the number of college or university students enrolled has risen to more than 35 million.

Most Chinese patent applications between 2018 and 2022 were for computers, sensors and electrical machines, as well as digital technology. Meanwhile, the country has also shown growing ambition in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors through its patent applications.

In 2022, 1.5 million patent applications were filed from other 27 countries, including the United States, Japan and the European Union member states, equivalent to around 44 percent of the total, said the vfa.

Europe is still dominating the automotive and medical technology sectors, the association added. It called on the continent to invest strategically particularly in key high-tech industries.