China ranks first in AI patent applications, 7.2 times more than US

China ranks first in the world in artificial intelligence patent applications, 7.2 times more than the second-ranked United States, a recently released report said.

China's AI patent applications amounted to 389,571, accounting for about 74.7 percent of global applications, according to the 2020 China Artificial Intelligence Industry Annual Convention, which was recently held.

From 2011 to 2020, the number of global AI patent applications is 521,264, with an overall upward trend year by year, the report said.

At present, global AI patent applications are concentrated in China, the United States, Japan, and South Korea.

Within China, Guangdong Province ranks first in AI patent applications with 72,737, 42.8% more than second-ranked Beijing.

It is worth mentioning that the top 10 organizations in China in terms of the number of AI patent applications include 5 companies and 5 universities.

These companies are State Grid, Tencent, OPPO, Baidu, and Ping An Technology, a subsidiary of local insurance giant Ping An Insurance.

The universities are Zhejiang University, University of Electronic Science and Technology, Beihang University, Tsinghua University, and South China University of Technology.