China last year became the world leader in international patent filings, unseating the United States which had held the top spot for more than four decades, the UN said.

The World Intellectual Property Organization said that China topped the ranking with 58,990 applications followed by US, Japan, Germany and South Korea. And for the third consecutive year, China-based telecoms giant Huawei Technologies topped the global rankingwith 4,411 PCT applications. (AFP)