Provincial authorities are offering financial aid to assist invention patent applications in Liaoning's intellectual property demonstration cities and counties this year.

The move aims to strengthen industries with strong intellectual property as well as support small and mid-sized enterprises with an edge in technological innovation, spur growth in the private sector and help in the province's transformation from its reliance on heavy industry, according to local authorities.

More than 14.8 million yuan has been distributed for nearly 20,000 patents in the province over the past four years.

With 20 percent annual average growth, invention patent applications increased from 4,368 in 2006 to 7,125 last year, ranking the province the seventh in the nation.

About 27 percent of 26,000 patent applications in the province last year were for invention patents, a bit higher than the national average of 26 percent.

Tiexi district in Shenyang along with a Manchu autonomous county in Benxi and economies in Wafangdian, Haicheng and Dashiqiao were named in the first group nationally for intellectual property practices.

(Source: China Daily)