(Yicai Global) July 11 -- The Global Innovation Index 2018 was jointly released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Cornell University and INSEAD on July 10 local time. China ranked 17th, breaking into the ranks of the top 20 innovative economies for the first time, China News Service reported.

Switzerland retained its top place this year, followed by the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, Singapore, and the US. South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong ranked 12th, 13th and 14th, respectively. China climbed five places from last year, passing the developed economies of Canada, Norway and Australia.

China's No. 17 ranking this year represents a breakthrough for an economy witnessing rapid transformation guided by government policy prioritizing research and development-intensive ingenuity. China's rapid rise "reflects a strategic direction set from the top leadership to developing world-class capacity in innovation and to moving the structural basis of the economy to more knowledge-intensive industries that rely on innovation to maintain competitive advantage," says WIPO Director General Francis Gury. "It heralds the arrival of multipolar innovation."

Developed economies continue to dominate the top ten places in the GII, with the top three from Europe. The United States fell back two slots from last year, but still leads the world per input and output in key innovations.

Published annually since 2007, the Global Innovation Index is designed to help global decision-makers better formulate policies to spur innovation. The GII this year ranks 126 economies based on 80 indicators, ranging from intellectual property filing rates to mobile-application creation, education spending, and scientific and technical publications.

Editor: Ben Armour