China has broken into the global innovation top 10 ranking for the first time, up one place from last year, according to the Global Innovation Index 2025 report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in September.

Notably, China remains the only middle-income economy among the top 30 economies in the ranking. Since 2013, its position has advanced from 35th to 10th, making it one of the fastest-climbing economies in innovation capacity worldwide.

China's steady ascent over more than a decade is much more than a flash in the pan, as it shows a systemic and sustainable rise in its innovation strength. This is demonstrated by the effectiveness of China's development model — driven by the synergy between an "effective market" and a "proactive government."

The government has long prioritized innovation, putting it at the core of the national strategy. China has established a comprehensive policy support system and continuously increased its investment in science and technology. In 2024, total R&D expenditure exceeded 3.6 trillion RMB, up 48 percent from 2020, while R&D intensity reached 2.68 percent, surpassing the European Union average. The country also leads the world in total number of R&D personnel.

The market sees enterprises as the main engine of innovation. Fierce market competition and vibrant venture capital activity have fueled a powerful drive for technological advancement. Corporate R&D accounted for over 77 percent of total R&D spending, and in 2024, 524 mainland Chinese firms made it to the world's top 2,000 industrial R&D investors — 26.2 percent of the global total, up 4.8 percentage points from 2020. The number of high-tech enterprises has surpassed 500,000, an 83 percent increase from 2020.

China's innovation achievements have evolved from quantitative accumulation to qualitative breakthroughs, forming strong innovation clusters across regions. The country ranks fifth globally in innovation output, leading the world in key indicators such as patents, trademarks, scientific publications, and the number of top 100 global innovation clusters.

According to the WIPO, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster topped the global innovation cluster rankings for the first time, underscoring the success of regional collaborative ecosystems and the growing concentration of innovation power.

In future-oriented sectors such as AI, new energy and biotechnology, China has secured a favorable position. Its vast domestic market continues to serve as a unique testing ground for technology iterations and commercialization — propelling China's innovation capacity, and its global ranking, ever higher.