Chinese firms like Huawei and Tencent accounted for six of the top 10 global patent holdings in the cyber security technology sector as of August

Chinese firms have gained ground in global patent holdings in the cyber security technology sector amid growing U.S.-China tensions, as per a report from Nikkei Asia on Sunday.

Chinese firms like Huawei and Tencent accounted for six of the top 10 global patent holdings in the cyber security technology sector as of August, according to data compiled by Nikkei in cooperation with U.S. information services provider LexisNexis. The data took into account patents registered across 95 countries and regions.

The report said that U.S. computer manufacturer IBM topped the list with 6,363 patents followed by Huawei and Tencent with 5,735 and 4,803 patents respectively.

The top 10 include Alibaba’s financial arm Ant Group in the sixth place with 3,922 patents, as well as Alibaba Group Holding with 3,122 patents, the Nikkei stated. Sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. had 3,042 patents, it said.

This comes as growing tensions between the U.S. and China have pushed the latter and its home-grown companies to seek self-reliance in science and technology. For stance, the U.S. recently tightened restrictions on AI chip exports to China over growing concerns that Beijing could use those chips to improve its military capabilities.

Hiroko Osaka, head of marketing in Asia for LexisNexis Japan’s intellectual property department, was quoted as saying there has been a “dramatic rise in filings by Chinese companies in general, particularly since 2018.”

Huawei has been at the centre of U.S. sanctions aimed at securing U.S. networks and supply chains since the U.S. tightened export controls on high-tech companies five years ago.