Of the BRICS grouping of large emerging markets, China is the most competitive nation, followed by the Russian Federation, according to a report released recently.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2018, conducted by the World Economic Forum, introduces a new methodology to reflect emerging factors critical to productivity in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

It uses 98 indicators to assess productivity and competitiveness across 140 countries and regions in the world. Each indicator ranges from 0 to 100 to show the current progress and remaining distance of an economy.

China ranks 28th overall, with a score of 72.6, said the report. It also highlights China's innovation capability, which stands at 24th above many advanced economies. China had 33 percent of the world's "unicorns", or private companies valued at over $1 billion, last year, up 21 percent since 2014.

For the East Asia and the Pacific, which accounted for about one-third of global growth in 2017, China serves as a major contributor to this fastest-growing region in the world.

China also ranks first in terms of market size based on per-capita purchasing power parity, the report shows. The United States is the most competitive nation in the world for the first time in a decade, followed by Singapore and Germany. Switzerland, which ranks fourth on the list, was No 1 last year. Nearly 90 percent of the top 30 are developed economies in Asia and Europe.