BEIJING -- The number of effective artificial intelligence invention patents in China reached 378,000 by the end of 2023, representing a year-on-year growth rate of over 40 percent, the country's top intellectual property regulator released the data on Monday.

"The growth rate in China is 1.4 times higher than the global average," the China National Intellectual Property Administration said at a news conference in Beijing.

The AI industry exemplifies China's digital economy's robust innovation vitality. Last year, the digital economy's core industries contributed 10 percent of the GDP.

In 2023, the number of invention patents approved in China's core digital economy industries reached 406,000, accounting for 45 percent of the total number of granted invention patents in the country. Moreover, the average annual growth rate over the past five years stood at 21 percent, said Ge Shu, a senior CNIPA official, noting that technological innovations are thriving in the field of digital economy.

He added that by the end of 2023, a total of 155,000 domestic enterprises had obtained invention patents related to the digital economy, an increase of 31,000 compared to the previous year.

Foreign enterprises are also strengthening their patent portfolios in the core industries of China's digital economy. According to Ge, by the end of last year, a total of 93 countries (regions) held valid invention patents in these industries in China, with the digital product manufacturing sector accounting for 61.8 percent.