BEIJING, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Science and Technology Monday released a report indicating a rapid increase in scientific and technological innovation.

The report said the number of full-time equivalent research and development (R&D) personnel in Chinese higher education institutions reached 355,000 by 2015, an increase of 46.7 percent from 2006.

R&D funds provided by colleges and universities stood at close to 100 billion yuan (15 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, 2.6 times more than in 2006.

In 2015, colleges and universities obtained more than 35 billion yuan in research funds from enterprises and public institutions, the report said.

Colleges and universities licensed 136,000 patents, including 57,000 invention patents in 2015, 8.2 times more than that of 2006.

The report showed 573 out of 1,762 colleges and universities have established specialized institutions for transferring technological achievements.