BEIJING — China received over 700,000 software copyright registrations in 2017, a year-on-year growth of 85 percent and a historical peak, said the Copyright Protection Center of China (CPCC) on Dec 27.

It took three years to have a 100,000 increase in software copyright registration from 2011 to 2014 while the number soared from 400,000 to 700,000 between 2016 and 2017, said the CPCC.

The surge in software copyright registrations showed growing innovation and copyright protection awareness in China’s software industry, and the policy to abolish the software copyright registration fee, issued on April 1, added momentum in the surge, according to the CPCC.

Software copyright refers to the proprietary rights that software developers and other obligees have to their products. The registration helps copyright owners exercise their rights and earn profits from their productions.