(Yicai Global) March 2 -- Japan, the US and Germany headed up the list of countries with the most patent filings in China last year, according to its National Intellectual Property Administration.

Market entities from 186 countries and regions applied for patents and trademarks in China in 2019, an increase of 12 over the previous year.

Japan, the US and Germany applied for the most invention patents, with 49,000, 39,000 and 16,000 filings, respectively.

The United States ranked first for trademark applications in 2019 with 54,000 filings in a 5.3 percent increase over 2018. Japan was second with 31,000, a 21.2 percent rise from the previous year. The UK came in third with 24,000 in a 42.4 percent yearly increase.

Editor: Xia Ruirui, Ben Armour