Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Gree Electric Appliances of Zhuhai granted 1,273 of its patents for wider applications last year, and was therefore ranked seventh on the China's top 10 enterprises list regarding authorization of patents for inventions, holding onto the previous year's ranking.

According to the report released on Jan 18 by the State Intellectual Property Office, the major Chinese household appliance manufacturer was the only entrant in that field; Gree broke into the top 10 for the first time in 2015.

Gree industrial robot arms hit domestic market. [Photo courtesy southch.com]

The first three spots of the rankings were occupied by State Grid Corporation of China, a state-owned electric utility monopoly of China and the largest utility company in the world; Huawei Technologies, a leading global information and communications technology solutions provider; and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, a State-backed petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group. They respectively granted 3,622, 3,292, and 2,576 of their licensed patents to other companies in 2017.

Gree currently has a strong focus on technological innovations, with the company employing more than 10,000 researchers. In recent years Geel has also been investing more than 4 billion yuan annually ($313 million) in the strengthening of its R&D capacity.

According to statistics collected as of December 31, 2017, the company has achieved a total of 34,927 patents, of which 14,897 are for inventions.

Gree has been based Zhuhai's Xiangzhou District since its establishment in 1991 and in just under 30 years has become one of the world's largest air conditioner manufacturers.