While China is part of the Top 20 of world’s most innovative countries for the first time, Switzerland remains in first place. (picture alliance/Roland Weihrauch/dpa/archive)
China has managed to break into the Top 20 for the first time in a new ranking of world’s most innovative countries. The world’s second-largest economy came in at 17th place, moving up from 22nd place the previous year. Switzerland remained in first place in the Global Innovation Index (GII), published by the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) together with the elite universities Cornell in the US and INSEAD in France. Germany again came in 9th place among the 126 countries surveyed.
The GII measures 80 indicators, including patent applications, app developments for smartphones, educational spending and scientific publications. The Netherlands and Sweden followed Switzerland in second and third place, respectively, and came ahead of Great Britain, Singapore, the US, Finland and Denmark. Ireland clocked in at tenth place. The rankings among the top 10 countries changed only slightly from last year.
China is now reaping the fruits of its strategic decision to create world-class prerequisites for innovation in the country, said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. Germany is in a good position, said the president of the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer. “We could still develop this solid position further if industrial firms and larger small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany concentrated as strongly on protecting innovations as do innovators in China and other countries.”
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