China moved into the top 10 of the United Nations’ annual ranking of most innovative countries for the first time on Tuesday, replacing Europe’s largest economy, Germany, as firms in Beijing invest heavily in research and development.

Axar.az informs, citing Reuters, Switzerland remained in first place, a position it has held since 2011, followed by Sweden and the United States, while China was in 10th place in the Global Innovation Index (GII) survey of 139 economies that ranks them based on 78 indicators.

China is on track to become the biggest R&D spender as it rapidly closes the gap in private sector financing, the GII showed.

Looking at the long-term, Germany should not be alarmed by its fall to 11th place, said GII co-editor, Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, adding that the new rankings did not reflect the impact of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration in the US.

The other countries in the list’s top 10 - behind the US and ahead of China - were, in order of ranking: South Korea, Singapore, Britain, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark.