.-') _ .-') _ | |
( OO ) ) ( OO ) ) | |
.-----. ,--./ ,--,' ,--./ ,--,' | |
' .--./ | \ | |\ | \ | |\ | |
| |('-. | \| | )| \| | ) | |
/_) |OO )| . |/ | . |/ | |
|| |`-'| | |\ | | |\ | | |
(_' '--'\ | | \ | | | \ | | |
`-----' `--' `--' `--' `--' | |
lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
China bumps Germany off the top 10 list of most innovative nations | |
By Reuters | |
Updated: | |
4:57 AM EDT, Tue September 16, 2025 | |
Source: Reuters | |
China moved into the top 10 of the United Nations’ annual ranking of | |
most innovative countries for the first time Tuesday, replacing | |
Europe’s largest economy, Germany, as firms in Beijing invest heavily | |
in research and development. | |
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. | |
China contributed about a quarter of international patent applications | |
in 2024, remaining the biggest source of them, while the US, Japan and | |
Germany – which together make up 40% of total applications – all | |
recorded slight declines. | |
Ownership of patents is widely seen as an important sign of a | |
country’s economic strength and industrial know-how. | |
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. | |
Looking at the long term, Germany should not be alarmed by its fall to | |
11th place, said GII co-editor, Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, adding that the | |
new rankings did not reflect the impact of tariffs imposed by the Trump | |
administration in the US. | |
“The challenge for Germany is how…, alongside its strong, | |
decades-long status as a really powerful engine of industrial | |
innovation, to become a powerhouse of digital innovation,” said Daren | |
Tang, director general of the UN’s World Intellectual Property | |
Organization, which publishes the innovation index. | |
The other countries in the list’s top 10 – behind the US and ahead | |
of China – were, in order of ranking: South Korea, Singapore, | |
Britain, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark. | |
<- back to index |