BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- The National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) announced recipients of the 20th China Patent Award, the nation's top award for patents on Tuesday.

Altogether 40 patents, including 30 patents for invention and utility model and 10 patents for industrial design won the gold award.

As of the end of 2017, products and projects related to the 40 gold award winners had created 83.5 billion yuan (about 12 billion U.S. dollars) of sales revenue, 13.9 billion yuan in profit and 18.6 billion yuan in exports.

More than 60 patents won the silver awards, which were included in this event for the first time to encourage more patent holders.

Shen Changyu, head of the NIPA, said China will continue to support higher-quality and high-value patents.

China Patent Award was co-organized by the NIPA and the World Intellectual Property Organization. More than 6,000 patents have been honored since the award was established in 1989.