BEIJING, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese colleges and universities have taken the lead in building over 60 percent of the key academic national laboratories and more than 30 percent of the national engineering technology research centers over the past decade, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) Tuesday.

During the past ten years, colleges and universities have gathered over 40 percent of the academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering and nearly 70 percent of the recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, the MOE said at a press conference.

Between 2012 and 2021, the number of patents granted to colleges and universities increased from 69,000 to 308,000, said Lei Chaozi, head of the science and technology department under the MOE.

Over the past 10 years, colleges and universities have been awarded first prize on 10 out of 11 occasions for China's State Technological Invention Award, and two special awards for the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award, according to the MOE.