Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, recently won two gold awards of the 22nd China Patent Awards, the top patent awards in China.

It was the first time that the zone has won the gold award, as well as the first time in six years that Anhui province won the gold award.

The two gold awards went to artificial intelligence company iFlytek for its speech recognition system, as well as Hefei Cas Ion Medical and Technical Devices Co Ltd for its proton therapy device. The two companies are leaders in their respective fields within the zone.

The zone also won one silver award and four excellence awards of the 22nd China Patent Awards.

The China Patent Awards is recognized by the China National Intellectual Property Administration and the World Intellectual Property Organization of the United Nations. It is the highest honor in the field of intellectual property in China.

The Hefei high-tech zone has won 37 China Patent Awards to date. In the first five months of this year, the zone had 4,443 licensing patents, a year-on-year increase of 41.36 percent, according to official statistics.