A total of 23 enterprises from the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, recently won the highest national honor awarded by the China National Intellectual Property Administration for outstanding efforts in the creation, application, protection and management of intellectual property (IP).

The list released by the administration showed that seven of them were awarded the title of "National IP Demonstration Enterprise", accounting for 50 percent of Hefei's enterprises and 23.33 percent of Anhui province, while 16 of them were awarded the title of "National IP Advantage Enterprise", accounting for 51.61 percent of Hefei and 16 percent of Anhui province.

China created the titles with the goal of building enterprises with strength in IP and helping China grow into an IP powerhouse. The country aims to cultivate a number of Chinese IP leaders with independent intellectual property rights, well-known brands, and international competitive advantages.

In recent years, the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone has been focusing on advantageous industries, cultivating key enterprises, and actively guiding enterprises in the zone through policy guidance, training and targeted services. So far, 13 enterprises in the zone have been approved as "National IP Demonstration Enterprises" and 39 enterprises have been approved as "National IP Advantage Enterprises".

The zone plans to give greater play to the leading role of these enterprises and enhance its capabilities in IP creation, application, protection and management, so as to provide strong support for helping the zone grow into a world-leading science and technology park.