Innovation drive beefs up nation's global ranking

Fueled by the government's strong emphasis on an innovation-driven economy, China for the first time joined the world's top 25 most-innovative economies, said a report released on Monday by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The report showed that China ranked 25th in the Global Innovation Index, up from 29th in last year's ranking.

The report stressed that China's new ranking marks the first time that a middle-income country has joined the club of the top 25 most-innovative economies, which had been dominated by highly developed economies.