China registered 1.1 million patents in 2015 to become the first country to file more than a million patent applications in a year. That's according to a report by the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization. The country has topped the world in patent applications for five years in a row, and more of the intellectual properties are seeing commercial benefits.

China saw the highest annual growth rate of 18.7 percent in patent registrations in the world. Over the past five years, China witnessed a boom in intellectual property development, with the number of patent applications exceeding four million. More companies have turned their IP soft power into real money.

Deputy manager of Potevio, Tao Xiongqiang, said, "70 of our patents were successfully registered, and we've obtained 200 million yuan worth of loan based on these IPs. This is the largest amount of loan in the industry based on IP collaterals."

Applications filed by Chinese innovators are mostly related to high-tech fields, including electrical engineering, computer technology, semiconductors and measuring instruments.

Deputy of State Intellectual Property Office, Zhang Zhicheng, said, "China's economy is in transformation towards an innovative form, more and more companies have realised the importance of innovation towards their development. "

China in 2016 advanced for the first time into the world's top 25 most-innovative economies. That's according to the Global Innovation Index by WIPO. China's patent-intensive industry accounts for one third of total employment and has contributed 10 per cent of China's gross domestic product.