China has entered the world's top 10 most innovative economies for the first time, according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The annual ranking, which assesses the innovation performance of nearly 140 economies, saw China climb one place to 10th, ranking first among middle-income economies. The country also recorded the highest number of global top 100 innovation clusters, with a total of 24.

The GII evaluates innovation capacity using a three-tier indicator system, covering areas ranging from institutions and human capital to technology outputs and creative industries.

In 2025, the top 15 economies in the index, ranked in order, were Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, China, Germany, Japan, France, Israel and China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Switzerland retained the top position for the 15th consecutive year.

China's Hong Kong SAR rose three places to 15th, marking its highest ranking since 2018.

Beyond country rankings, the GII also publishes a list of the world's top 100 innovation clusters, measuring the concentration of innovation activity and the ability to translate scientific research into economic outcomes. The assessment is based on three core indicators: international patent applications, scientific publications and, newly introduced in 2025, venture capital transactions.

Among the top 10 innovation clusters, the United States had the most entries, with four, followed by China with three. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster ranked first globally for the first time, while the Beijing cluster placed fourth and the Shanghai-Suzhou cluster ranked sixth.

Across the full list of 100 innovation clusters, China has led globally for three consecutive years. In 2025, it accounted for 24 clusters, compared with 22 in the United States. Germany ranked third with seven clusters.

The report also highlighted trends in global patent activity. In 2024, international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) framework saw a modest rebound. China remained the largest source country for PCT applications, accounting for around 25% of the global total, with year-on-year growth of nearly 1%.

By contrast, applications from the United States, Japan and Germany declined by 2.7%, 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively, though the three countries together still represented around 40% of global filings.