BEIJING — The latest statistics issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) showed that China ranked first in international patent application volume in 2021 for the third consecutive year, China Science Daily reported on Feb 14.

The WIPO data showed that around 277,500 international applications were filed under WIPO's Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 2021, up 0.9 percent year-on-year.

Applicants from China filed 69,540 applications, growing 0.9 percent from 2020. Those from the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Germany filed 59,570, 50,260, 20,678 and 17,322 applications respectively.

China-based telecom company Huawei topped the rank of PCT applicants, filing 6,952 applications in 2021.

China's Zhejiang University ranked second among educational institutions with 306 PCT applications in 2021.