BEIJING, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- China approved 168,000 patents in the first half of this year, up 40.5 percent on last year, according to the State Intellectual Property Office.

More than 142,000 patent rights were granted domestically, up 44.5 percent, and 26,000 were granted overseas, up 22 percent, it said.

The number invention patents reached 32,000, up 15.3 percent and there were 71,000 designs patents, up 53 percent, according to the office.

"The sharp increase shows a greatly-improved efficiency and capability in patent examination and approval," said Wang Xiaohu, an official with the office.

Statistics show the state office received 268,926 patent applications in the first half of this year, up 7.3 percent. By the end of June, the office had granted 1.9 million patent rights out of the 3.6 million applications it had received.