BEIJING, April 24 -- Over 1,700 universities and research institutions in China have compiled an inventory of 914,000 patents to date, the country's IP regulator said on Wednesday.

Among these patents, 636,000 are invention patents, accounting for 60 percent of all effective invention patents held by universities and research institutions, Shen Changyu, head of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), said at a press conference.

A total of 676,000 patents identified in the inventory have entered the conversion resource pool after being evaluated and reviewed. Of that number, 506,000 are invention patents, with 30.4 percent of these being self-assessed with favorable conversion prospects.

The CNIPA, along with relevant government departments, initiated the inventory work at the beginning of this year.