The number of market entities increased by 100 million in China over the past ten years thanks to the country's improvements in intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and the business environment, said a new report.

The total number of China's market entities of all types topped 150 million in 2021, with around 70 percent of them running actively, said the report released by the Office of the National Leading Group on the Fight against IPR Infringement and Counterfeiting.

Private firms contributed to more than 55 percent of the country's total tax revenues and over 60 percent of the total investments.

"The Chinese government has always treated fairly and provided equal protection for the IPR of businesses at home or abroad," said Gan Lin, director of the office of the leading group and deputy head of the State Administration for Market Regulation.

Gan added that China's multiple proactive measures for IPR protection created a favorable environment for the development of overseas investors.

Official data showed the number of invention patents granted to applicants from overseas reached 110,000 last year, up 23 percent from the previous year. Over 194,000 trademarks were registered by foreign applicants, up 5.2 percent year-on-year.