New York (People's Daily) – Cornell University, the European Business School and the World Intellectual Property Organization jointly released the "2018 Global Innovation Index" report in New York on Tuesday. China broke into the world's top 20 most-innovative economies at number 17 as Switzerland retained its number-one spot in the Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking. Rounding out the GII 2018 top ten: The Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Singapore, the US, Finland, Denmark, Germany and Ireland.

Published annually since 2007, and now in its 11th edition, The Global Innovation Index is a detailed quantitative tool that helps global decision makers better understand how to stimulate the innovative activity that drives economies and human development. The GII ranks 126 economies based on 80 indicators, ranging from intellectual property filing rates to mobile-application creation, education spending and scientific and technical publications.

The theme of the 2018 GII edition is "Energizing the World with Innovation.” The core of the GII report consists of a ranking of world economies' innovation capabilities and results. Recognizing the key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity, and the need for a broad vision of innovation applicable to developed and emerging economies, the GII includes indicators that go beyond the traditional measures of innovation, such as the level of research and development.

According to the report, twenty economies comprise these 'innovation achievers' in 2018, three more than in 2017. The sub-Saharan Africa region boasts six innovation achievers, including Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa, while five economies hail from Eastern Europe. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam continue to move up the rankings, steering closer to regional powerhouses like China, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. 

(Photo: website of World Intellectual Property Organization)

"Over time, a number of emerging economies stand out for being real movers and shakers in the innovation landscape, " said Soumitra Dutta, former Dean and Professor of Management at Cornell University. "Aside from China, which is already in the top 25, the middle-income economy closest to this top group is Malaysia. Other interesting cases are India, Iran, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam, which consistently climb in the rankings."

The report also pointed out that China's number 17 ranking this year represents a breakthrough for an economy witnessing rapid transformation guided by government policy prioritizing research and development-intensive ingenuity.

"China's rapid rise reflects a strategic direction set from the top leadership to developing world-class capacity in innovation and to moving the structural basis of the economy to more knowledge-intensive industries that rely on innovation to maintain competitive advantage," said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. "It heralds the arrival of multipolar innovation.”