Zhuhai reigned at the 20th China Patent Awards Conference in Beijing on Dec 25 as the city with enterprises earning the most gold honors for high-quality innovative creations.

With two of the top winning patents, Gree Electric Appliances came in as the first of 21 Zhuhai enterprises that earned five of Guangdong Province's 10 gold awards. The city captured all four of the province's gold medals for design.

Zhuhai enterprises also collected two silver and 20 excellence awards from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA).

Zhuhai gold award winners [Photo courtesy WeChat account: GREE-1991]

Gree in Qianshan of Xiangzhou District garnered the only gold in the air-conditioning industry. It was recognized for a photovoltaic direct-drive system and control method. The system employs a light source-based technology that replaces conventional electricity with solar power to operate air conditioners. The world's largest supplier of air conditioners, Gree also earned two silver and seven excellence awards.

Meizu Technology in Tangjiawan of Xiangzhou won gold for industrial design of a double-sided screen. The innovation "meets the personalized needs of young people and has helped Meizu to generate more than 1 million smartphones installed with such screens so far," according to the company.

China Aviation Industry General Aircraft in Jinwan District and Zhuhai Guangtong Automobile in Sanzao of Jinwan were also outstanding gold winners. Their submissions were recognized as technologically advanced, innovative, and practical. All the top winning companies were also cited for effective management of their innovations.

Countrywide, it is reported that gold awards were made for 40 patents, including 30 for invention and utility models and 10 for industrial design.

The WIPO-CNIPA Award for Chinese Outstanding Patented Inventions & Industrial Design, which was initiated by the Chinese government in 1989, is the most prestigious citation for innovation in the country.

Zhuhai has now earned 77 WIPO and CNIPA Awards, including eight gold, two silver, and 67 for excellence. Award-winning projects involve mostly biomedicine, household appliances, new energy, integrated circuits, and precision instruments.

Generous incentives and an innovative atmosphere have helped the city to record 10,929 invention patents as of the end of October. According to the Intellectual Property Office, Zhuhai's number of patents per capita is second only to Shenzhen's in Guangdong.

Zhuhai incentivizes every officially recognized city-level IP-heavy enterprise with a minimum of 100,000 yuan ($14,515). Other forms of support are detailed in Standards for Special Funding to Promote Patents in Zhuhai.