China rises to global innovation top 10: WIPO index

GENEVA -- China has risen to the 10th position in the global innovation ranking for 2025, up one spot from the previous year, marking its first entry into the top 10, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Thursday.

The Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 report released by the WIPO evaluates the innovation performance of nearly 140 economies using approximately 80 indicators, including research and development (R&D) spending, venture capital (VC) deals, high-tech exports, and intellectual property filings.

Switzerland tops the latest ranking, followed by Sweden, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, and China.

The report also highlights that China maintains its lead among middle-income economies globally and shows continued strength in R&D spending, high-tech exports and innovation outputs. For the third consecutive year, China hosts the highest number of top 100 global science and technology innovation clusters, with 24 clusters listed in the 2025 index. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster ranked first globally for the first time.

In GII 2025, 17 low- and middle-income economies are performing above expectations for their level of development, with India and Vietnam as longest-running innovation overperformers. Sub-Saharan Africa leads in the number of economies overperforming on innovation, led by South Africa, Senegal, and Rwanda.

Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania remains a driving force in global innovation in 2025, with six economies ranked among the top 25.

Beyond the innovation rankings, the 2025 edition shows an uneven performance in leading indicators of future innovative activity.

R&D growth in 2024 fell to its lowest level since the 2010 financial crisis. Due to persistent inflation, real growth in business R&D expenditure slowed to 1 percent, well below the past decade's average of 4.6 percent. ICT-related companies, especially AI-intensive sectors, software, and pharmaceutical firms increased R&D budgets, while manufacturing sectors such as automobiles and consumer goods have cut R&D spending amid declining revenues.

Venture capital rebounded, with transaction value growing by 7.7 percent in 2024, largely driven by mega-deals in the United States and a surge in generative AI investments. However, excluding these, venture capital would have contracted.

Technological progress, a dimension covered in the GII Global Innovation Tracker, remained strong, with battery prices and supercomputer efficiency improving while the cost of genome sequencing declining further.

"However, innovation isn't standing still. It's recalibrating. New breakthroughs are still reaching people around the world. From green supercomputing and artificial intelligence, to smarter batteries, faster internet and better cancer care," said WIPO.

"While we see encouraging signs of recovery in areas such as innovation uptake and impact, the global innovation engine is not firing on all cylinders. Slower growth in R&D investments and declining VC activity reminds us that innovation requires sustained upstream and financial commitment," said WIPO Director General Daren Tang in the press release.