WASHINGTON -- A report showed that the total number of US grant patents for Chinese mainland companies increased by 34 percent in 2019, the strongest growth among major economies.

The patent filings in the United States hit an all-time high in 2019 with 333,530 patents granted, an unprecedented 15 percent increase from 2018, according to the annual report released Tuesday by IFI Claims, a New Haven-based patent service.

Patents from Chinese mainland companies went up from 12,599 to 16,900, registering a 34.14 percent increase. The patents from US companies rose by 15.95 percent, making the second fastest increase.

Larry Cady, IFI Claims senior analyst, told Xinhua that China has been the fastest growing area for a number of years and those patents filed are mainly in the technology sector.

According to the report, the US holds a 49 percent share of US patents granted in 2019, followed by Japan and South Korea. China moved up to a 5 percent share to rank the fourth place, surpassing Germany for the first time.

Two Chinese mainland companies are in the Top 15 this year. Huawei went up six places to 10 while BOE Technology went up four places to 13.

It has revealed that the Chinese companies are optimistic that the trade disputes between two countries can be resolved finally so they can tap into the US market, according to Cady.

Among the Top 10 Fastest Growing Technologies in terms of US patent growth are CRISPR technology, creating new hybrid plants, dashboards (mostly related to automobiles), 3D printing, and medicinal preparations (especially cancer therapies), according to the report.