Improving indigenous innovation capability and building an innovation-driven country is a strategic goal set forth in Chinas National Program for Long- and Medium-Term Scientific and Technological Development (20062020). The Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development began working on the national innovation index research in 2006 in order to track and assess Chinas progress in building an innovation-driven country. With the support and assistance from the Ministry of Science and Technology and its related departments and bureaus, related public institutions, and experts from various sectors, the National Innovation Index Report has been published annually since 2011. The National Innovation Index Report 2018 is the 8th release.
The National Innovation Index Report, as one of the reports of the national innovation survey system series prepared in accordance with the Work Plan to Establish a National Innovation Survey System of the Ministry of Science and Technology, is a state-level innovation capacity evaluation report. Drawing upon domestic and international theories and methods of evaluation of national competitiveness and innovation capacity, it is based on an indicator matrix comprising five pillars, i.e. innovation resources, knowledge creation, enterprise innovation, innovation performance, and innovation environment. This report is still framed around the same indicator system structure as previous releases, which consists of 5 first-level indicators and 30 second-level indicators. The 30 second-level indicators include 20 quantitative indicators which highlight innovation scale, quality and efficiency
National Innovation Index Report 2018
and international competitiveness while maintaining a balance between large and small