China sharpens up in cutting-edge science

China has surpassed the United Kingdom and now ranks second, behind the United States, in its innovative cutting-edge science capabilities, according to a new index released on Thursday.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences and Clarivate Analytics, a global analytic firm, published a new index measuring the world's top 20 most innovative countries'research capabilities across 143 of the hottest and emerging fields of science in 10 major categories.

The index is based on a country's contribution to a specific field and the number of citations its science papers have in their fields. The US leads the index with a score of 281.1, China is runner-up with 118.8 points, followed by the United Kingdom at 96.9, and Germany at 91.