Beijing plans doubling of patent applications, with focus on agriculture

Authorities have announced plans to double the number of patent applications in China to 14 per 10,000 citizens within the next half-decade, South China Morning Post reported, citing a statement from the central government’s website. The statement emphasized improvement of China’s agricultural technologies, especially in grain production, though the country currently wastes roughly half the volume of grain it imports–35 million metric tones, or enough to feed 200 million people for a year, by one count–due to faulty storage, transportation and processing systems.