China rises to 11th in Global Innovation Index

A girl looks at a surgery robot during the World Robot Conference 2022 in Beijing, capital of China on August 18, 2022. REN CHAO XINHUA GENEVA BEIJING -- China moved up to 11th place in the 2022 Global Innovation Index GII and remains the only middle-income economy in the top 30, according to the latest ranking by the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO on Thursday.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory letter to WIPO on the launch of the Global Innovation Index 2022.

Switzerland remains the world's leader in innovation for the 12th consecutive year, according to the GII, an annual ranking of the world's economies on innovation capacity and output, followed by the US, Sweden, the United Kingdom UK and the Netherlands.

In 2020 and 2021, China, having ranked 14th and 12th in 2020 and 2021, steadily rose to 11th place in 2022 and is now on the doorstep of the world's top 10 most innovative economies.

China's growth in the GII ranking from 34th ten years ago to 11th in 2022 is really spectacular. WIPO Director General Daren Tang said at the press launch of GII 2022 that the government and the country are paying attention to innovation as an engine of growth.

Intellectual property is taken seriously by the Chinese government. They have five-year strategic plans in which they can harmonize IP policy making with all the related elements. He said that China nurtures its innovation ecosystem in a holistic, comprehensive manner.

Despite the COVID-19 epidemic, research and development R&D and other investments that drive innovative activities worldwide continued to boom in 2021, according to the GII. In 2021, the top global corporate R&D spenders increased their expenditure by almost ten percent to over US $900 billion, higher than in the pre-pandemic year 2019.

Four industries that contributed to the increase were information and communication technology, ICT hardware and electrical equipment, software and ICT services, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, and construction and industrial metals.

Investments in global R&D in 2020 grew at a rate of 3.3 percent but slowed from the historically high 6.1 percent recorded in 2019. Growth in 2020 was seen in government budget allocations for the top R&D spending economies. For 2021, the picture was more varied, with spending growing in South Korea and Germany but falling in the US and Japan.

Innovation is at a crossroads as the world emerges from the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the WIPO chief.

In his letter, Li said that sci-tech innovation is a powerful force for the development of the human society. He said that China has strengthened cooperation in science-tech innovation and protected intellectual property rights in the global innovation network, as well as attaching great importance to innovation.

Innovation in science and technology is a driving force in the development of the human society. He said that China has strengthened cooperation in science-tech innovation and protected intellectual property rights IPRs, as well as attaching great importance to innovation.