The number of patents of invention in strategic emerging industries reached 2,602 in Qingdao in 2016, accounting for 38.9 percent of total patents of invention in the city, according to a report issued on Nov. 5. 

The patents of invention in strategic emerging sectors grew 33 percent from the previous year. This growth rate ranked first among 15 sub-provincial cities in China. 

According to the report on the patent authorization and innovation in strategic emerging sectors in Qingdao, the city's strategic emerging sectors applied for a total of 18,873 patents of invention in 2016, accounting for 36.9 percent of the total patents of invention in the city, and down 14.6 percent from the previous year. 

The report deduced that the contrast between the growth in authorization and the fall in application of patents of invention showed clearly a shift from a focus on quantity to quality of patent application. 

The number of patents of invention in bioindustry in Qingdao reached 1,157, ranking top among sub-provincial cities three years in a row.