BEIJING -- China's innovation patent filings surged both in number and quality in 2017, a spokesman said Thursday.

New patent filings numbered 1.38 million last year, up 14.2 percent. About 420,000 have been accepted, said Hu Wenhui, spokesperson for the State Intellectual Property Office.

"As of the end of 2017, the number of patents in China hit 1.35 million. That is nearly 1 patent per 1,000 people," Hu said.

China has a number of domestically developed core technologies in telecommunications, aviation and space, high-speed railways, nuclear energy. Over the years, the quality of the patents filed in these fields has notably improved, Hu said.