China ranked 21st in terms of innovative abilities among the world’s 40 most innovative countries, according to a report issued by the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development (CASTED). China’s innovative ability garnered 57.9 points based on a scale of 100 with the United States getting 100 points at the top. The report, China’s first on national innovation ability, was mainly based on data from the World Bank, the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States and China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). According to the report, China ranked first in terms of the number of research personnel and the export of high-tech products. It ranked fourth in total research and development (R&D) investment and third in terms of the number of authorized patents. China is expected to become an innovative country by 2020, a time when scientific progress is predicted to contribute 60% of the nation’s economic development and R&D investment would jump to 2.5% of GDP. The United States ranks first in the report, followed by Switzerland, the Republic of Korea and Japan.