Nanjing, Suzhou rank among top ten innovative cities in China

The cities of Nanjing and Suzhou in east China’s Jiangsu province rank among the top ten innovative cities in China, according to the recently-released Evaluation Report on Innovation Capability of National Innovative Cities in 2023. All the 13 prefectural cities in the province are included in the list.

National innovative cities refer to cities with strong independent innovation capabilities, prominent scientific and technological support and leadership, high levels of sustainable economic and social development, and significant regional radiation and driving effects.

The Ministry of Science and Technology conducts a comprehensive evaluation of national innovative cities every year based on 30 indicators from five dimensions, including innovation governance, original innovation, technological innovation, achievement transformation, and innovation driving force.

The latest report shows that among the 101 innovative cities in China, Nanjing and Suzhou rank in the top ten, ranking 4th and 9th respectively.

Nanjing ranks tenth in the proportion of R&D expenditure to regional GDP, third in the number of R&D personnel per 10000 employees, third in the number of high-level scientific and technological talents, tenth in the number and value of high-tech enterprises, and third in the number of invention patents per 10000 people.

In addition, thanks to the increased construction of major science and technology innovation platforms in Nanjing in recent years, Nanjing ranks third in the country in the scores of innovation governance and original innovation, next only to Beijing and Shanghai.

As of now, the entirety of the 13 prefecture level cities in Jiangsu has entered the list of national innovative cities, ranking first in the country.

According to the recently released "China Regional Innovation Capability Evaluation Report 2023", Jiangsu, along with Guangdong, Beijing, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, are both leading innovation regions in China with good performances in the five indicator dimensions of "knowledge creation", "knowledge acquisition", "enterprise innovation", "innovation performance", and "innovation environment". Jiangsu leads the country in key indicators such as R&D intensity of industrial enterprises above designated size.