According to the latest data from the State Intellectual Property Office, a new record in the city was set last year when more than 20,000 patents were granted, an increase of 43 percent over 2011, bringing the inventory of valid patents to more than 52,300. Small high-tech businesses now have about half of the total. Some 2,800 small companies in Tianjin filed their first patent application in 2012.

(Source: China Daily)