China filed the most international patent applications in the world in 2019, overtaking the United States for the first time in over 40 years, and Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. was crowned the top corporate patent filer for the third year in a row.

According to data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization on April 7, China filed 58,990 applications with the organization's Patent Cooperation Treaty system last year, an 11% increase from 2018, while applications from the U.S. totaled 57,840, a 3% increase from 2018. Patent activity is seen as an important indicator of the level of innovation in a country's economy.

WIPO's PCT system allows applicants to secure patent protection in 153 countries. Until now, the U.S. had filed the most applications every year since the PCT system was established in 1978. However, China has seen a meteoric rise in its patent activity since it signed on to the system in 1994. In 1999, it submitted just 276 applications to WIPO, making last year's total a 200-fold increase in only 20 years.

Francis Gurry, WIPO's director general, said that China's success was due to the government's support for innovation and efforts to move up the value chain. "I think what we see in terms of intellectual property applications is a consequence of that strategy," he said at a virtual press conference.

Meanwhile, controversial Chinese telecom giant Huawei retained its crown as the top corporate filer of international patents for the third year running. With 4,411 applications, Huawei had close to double the number achieved by the next biggest filer, Japanese electronics-maker Mitsubishi Electric (2,661). Korea's Samsung Electronics (2,334), U.S. giant Qualcomm Inc. (2,127) and Chinese smartphone maker Guang Dong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications (1,927) rounded out the top five.

Huawei has been at the center of the ongoing spat over trade and technology between the U.S. and China. It is the world's largest maker of telecom gear, including 5G equipment. The Trump administration believes that it and other Chinese telecom companies are threats to U.S. national security.