In recent years, China has attached increasing importance to the protection of intellectual property rights to encourage innovation as a key source of sustainable growth.

An article in China Daily says after putting in place most of the needed laws and regulations to check IPR infringement, it is time for firm implementation. Such efforts will safeguard market order and boost domestic enthusiasm for innovation.

According to statistics released earlier by the State Intellectual Property Office, China had registered a total of over 850,000 valid patents by the end of last year. That's nearly 17 percent more than the total at the end of 2006.

But the article says the recent hike in patent applications is encouraging but not enough to give domestic enterprises adequate incentives for ingenious innovations.

The National Bureau of Statistics pointed out last month that less than 10 percent of large industrial companies in China applied for patents between 2004 and 2006 and only about a quarter of them have registered their trademarks.

The article says the fact shows that most Chinese enterprises are unaware of the vital importance of IPR for competitiveness at home and abroad. It calls for more efforts to encourage the enterprises to create intellectual properties and make good use of them.