That China ranks 12th in the 2021 Global Innovation Index, up by two places from 2020, shows it has continued its rising momentum for nine consecutive years. According to a recent report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China's ranking is already close to the top 10, and it is still the only middle-income economy in the top 30 of the Global Innovation Index.

Since it was first published in 2007, the Global Innovation Index has become an authoritative index to measure the innovation and intellectual property rights capacity of a country. Based on 81 indicators in seven categories, such as policy environment, human resources, research and development, infrastructure, knowledge and technology output, and creative output, it systematically measures the comprehensive innovation capacity of 132 economies.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and caused huge economic losses, many governments and companies have increased investments to promote innovation, which has helped them overcome the epidemic-induced economic difficulties.

Innovation is viewed as a key driving force for China's development, and the country has accelerated its shift to an innovation-driven economic development model.

The quantum anomalous Hall effect that promotes the organized flow of electrons in a system without the use of an external magnetic field; iron-based high-temperature superconductors; the successful launch of the Chang'e-5 lunar mission and the Tianwen-1 Mars mission; and the world's first optical quantum computing prototypes are just some of China's achievements.

As China enters a new stage of development, innovation is replacing the twin drivers of investment and exports that bolstered its development in the past. Vigorously enhancing its independent innovation capacity and making breakthroughs in key technologies are crucial for China's efforts to promote the "dual circulation" development paradigm in which domestic circulation is the mainstay, and the domestic and external markets reinforce each other.

The new round of scientific and technological revolution is having a profound impact on global development and changing the way people work and live. Seizing the opportunities created by the latest scientific and industrial revolution, China is in a better position to increase its innovation capacity by adopting an innovation-first strategy and promoting innovation in key sectors of the economy.