China moved into the top 10 of the United Nations’ annual ranking of most innovative countries for the first time on Tuesday, replacing Europe’s largest economy, Germany, as firms in Beijing invest heavily in research and development, reports Reuters. Switzerland remained in first place, a position it has held since 2011, followed by Sweden and the United States, while China was in 10th place in the Global Innovation Index (GII) survey of 139 economies that ranks them based on 78 indicators.
China is on track to become the biggest R&D spender as it rapidly closes the gap in private sector financing, the GII showed.
At the same time, the outlook for global innovation is clouded by declining investment, according to the survey. R&D growth is set to slow to 2.3% this year from 2.9% last year, which was its lowest since 2010 after the financial crisis.