China has entered the United Nations’ annual list of the world’s ten most innovative nations for the first time, displacing Germany, Europe’s largest economy, as companies in Beijing ramp up investment in research and development.
Switzerland held on to the top spot, a position it has maintained since 2011, followed by Sweden and the United States. China came in tenth in the Global Innovation Index (GII), which assessed 139 economies against 78 indicators.
The survey showed that China is on course to become the leading spender on Research and Development (R&D), rapidly narrowing the gap in private sector investment.
However, the global outlook for innovation is overshadowed by falling investment. Growth in R&D is forecast to slow to 2.3% this year from 2.9% in 2024 – already the weakest since 2010 in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
China accounted for roughly a quarter of international patent applications last year, remaining the largest source, while the United States, Japan and Germany – which collectively represent 40% – all registered slight declines.
Patent ownership is widely regarded as a key measure of economic strength and technological expertise.
In the longer term, Germany should not be overly concerned about its slip to eleventh place, said GII co-editor Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, noting that the rankings did not take into account the impact of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
“The challenge for Germany is how, alongside its strong, decades-long role as an industrial innovation powerhouse, it can also become a leader in digital innovation,” said World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director General Daren Tang.
The other countries in the top ten – positioned between the United States and China – were South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark.
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Russia is considering the possibility of joint projects with the United States and China, Kirill Dmitriev, Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, (Russia's sovereign wealth fund), was quoted as saying by state media on Wednesday.
Somaliland has announced plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem, marking a further step in its emerging diplomatic engagement with Israel, its ambassador Mohamed Hagi said. The move comes after Israel became the first country to formally recognise the self-declared republic.
Investigators have discovered what officials described as “anti-Islamic writings” inside a vehicle connected to the two teenagers accused of carrying out the deadly shooting at a mosque in San Diego, according to a U.S. Department of Justice official familiar with the case.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Sweden this week for talks with NATO foreign ministers before heading to India for meetings focused on trade, energy and defence cooperation.
The World Urban Forum (WUF13) continues in Baku, Azerbaijan on 18 May, addressing the global housing crisis. The day’s agenda includes the official opening press conference, the WUF13 Urban Expo opening and a ministerial dialogue on the Nairobi Declaration to advance Africa's urban agenda.
United Nations World Urban Forum 13 continues in Baku, Azerbaijan on 19 May with sessions and roundtable discussions focused on strengthening dialogue and advancing cooperation in urban development. Organisers say there are nearly 3 billion people globally who face some form of housing inadequacy.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he had paused a planned attack on Iran after appeals from the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, allowing negotiations to continue over a possible deal to end the conflict.
A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck China’s Guangxi region early on Monday, killing two people and forcing more than 7,000 residents in Liuzhou to evacuate as rescue efforts continued.
Azerbaijan and Georgia have agreed to resume daily passenger train services on the Baku-Tbilisi-Baku route from 26 May, 2026, marking a major step in restoring regional rail connectivity after services were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
China has launched the world’s first experiment to study how artificial human embryos develop in space, marking a major step in understanding whether humans could one day reproduce beyond Earth.
Japanese filmmaker Koji Fukada has said that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to “jump straight to the result” risks undermining the purpose of art, which he believes should be rooted in self-expression and a deeper understanding of the world.
The Spanish government has issued a defiant message to Silicon Valley, confirming it will push ahead with stringent new legislation designed to make social networks and Artificial Intelligence (AI) demonstrably safer.
A robotics startup says it has built an AI “brain” that can teach humanoid robots new physical skills in days rather than months, as the race to deploy human-shaped machines in factories and warehouses accelerates.
Apple and Meta have publicly opposed a Canadian bill they say could force technology companies to weaken encryption on devices and online services if it becomes law.
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