Beijing (CNS) -- Within the Group of 20, China's innovative competitiveness rating moved it up a couple of seats to take 10th place, according to a report on innovative competitiveness within that body, released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on Monday.
The U.S., Japan and Germany are the trio on top, followed by France, Korea, the UK, Canada, Australia, Italy, and then China. China's competitiveness score is less than half that of the U.S. and below the G20 average, says the report.
In general, China is rapidly increasing its R&D budget, but still needs to put more focus on hi-tech development, suggests the report.
The report also indicates that the number of China's scientific papers and the value of its exports on hi-tech products are climbing, but the total number of patents it holds remains inferior to the G20 average.
Li Shenming, vice president of CASS, commented on the occasion of the report's release that the role of scientific innovation in stimulating development and balancing sustainability cannot be underestimated, and China should persist in improving itself in this regard to grasp the key to scientific development.
