BEIJING - The number of patent applications from China's national defense sector has increased rapidly in recent years, according to a report in Tuesday's People's Daily newspaper.

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The number of defense-related patent applications submitted over the last two years has already exceeded the total number of applications submitted between 1985 and 2005, according to a quote in the report from Lu Xicheng, an official from the General Armaments Department of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

China implemented a new intellectual property rights (IPR) campaign for its national defense sector in 2009. Since then, the country has launched 11 defense-related IPR projects and initiated research for 19 special defense projects, said Lu.

In addition, the applications that have been submitted in recent years have featured more advanced technologies and techniques than those submitted in previous years, according to Lu.