Yantai, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province, witnessed a continuous rise in the quality and quantity of intellectual property in 2021, with 22,153 invention patents authorized throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of 43.3 percent, according to statistics released by the city's market supervision and administration bureau.

Statistics indicate that the valid invention patents per 10,000 residents in the city reached 14.91, the number of valid registered trademarks totaled 128,000, and there were 41 valid geographical indication trademarks. The city is now home to 122 enterprises that have obtained geographical indication certifications, which is the most in Shandong.

Local authorities said that since last year, the city has released a number of guidelines to strengthen intellectual property protection, motivate innovators, and promote the application of intellectual property rights in a bid to build Yantai into an innovative and protective intellectual property highland in China.

Efforts have also been made to cultivate a number of enterprises with advantages in intellectual property, with 15 selected as national demonstration enterprises for intellectual property. Two of Yantai's geographical indication products, which are Yantai apples and Longkou Cellophane Noodles, were included on the "Shandong Good Products" list. Twenty companies with a combined brand value of over 138.74 billion yuan ($21.45 billion) made the China Brand Value Information Release List 2021.

Yantai's intellectual property industry has developed rapidly over the past year. In 2021, there were five projects in Yantai that won the 22nd China Patent Award, and 18 enterprises were awarded provincial honorable titles for patent cultivation.