China was among the top 20 most-innovative¹ economies in the annual Global Innovation Index ranking published last Tuesday by Cornell University and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

美国康奈尔大学和世界知识产权组织上周二发布年度《全球创新指数排行榜》，中国跻身最具创新力经济体20强。

Switzerland retained its top place this year, followed by the Netherlands and Sweden. China climbed to 17th from 22nd place last year, according to the ranking.

今年瑞士仍高居榜首，荷兰、瑞典紧随其后。根据这份排行榜，中国从去年的第22升至第17。

The US slid from 4th spot in 2017 to 6th, though in absolute terms, the country remained the top contributor in key innovation inputs² and outputs.

尽管从绝对数量上看，美国在核心创新投入和产出方面仍位居第一，但其排名已由2017年的第4降至第6。

The US came second after China in the volume of researchers, patents and scientific and technical publications, according to the ranking.

美国在研究人员、专利和科技出版物数量方面位列第二，居中国之后。

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said that China's rapid rise heralded³ "the arrival of multipolar innovation," reflecting "a strategic direction set from the top leadership to developing world-class capacity in innovation and to moving the structural⁴ basis of the economy to more knowledge-intensive industries that rely on innovation to maintain competitive advantage."

世界知识产权组织总干事弗朗西斯·高锐称，中国的快速提升预示着“创新多极化的到来”，反映出其领导层设定的战略方向，以发展世界级创新能力并使经济结构向知识密集型产业转型，这些产业更依赖创新来保持竞争力。

Sean Randolph, the senior director of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, told Xinhua that China has tremendous innovative capacity, and is moving quickly up the ladder.

旧金山湾区委员会经济研究所主席肖恩·伦道夫在接受新华社采访时表示，中国拥有巨大的创新能力，而且正在快速向上发展。

"There's great energy in the entrepreneurial community and growing access to venture capital and the quality of China's scientific research is also increasing," said Randolph.

伦道夫说：“创业团体有着巨大的能量，越来越多的人进入风险投资，中国的科研质量也在不断提高。”