BEIJING, Oct. 15 -- China stands ready to work with other countries to pursue open and inclusive sci-tech cooperation, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

According to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024 recently released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China moved up one spot to 11th place in the ranking of the world's most innovative economies compared with last year, remaining the only middle-income economy in the top 30.

In response to a related query, spokesperson Mao Ning said since the GII was launched in 2007, China has steadily moved up in various GII rankings. According to this year's report, China is one of the fastest 10-year climbers and leads with the most science and technology clusters in the top 100, showing strong momentum in and broad prospects for innovation-driven development, she said.

Mao said the improvement of China's innovation capability is a result of its increasing research and development (R&D) spending and open and inclusive international cooperation.

According to statistics, China's R&D expenditure topped 3.3 trillion yuan (over 450 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, up 8.4 percent year on year, Mao said, adding that China has established sci-tech cooperation relations with more than 160 countries and regions and signed 118 inter-governmental agreements on sci-tech cooperation.

The sound environment for innovation and rich human resources in China have attracted more and more multinational businesses to set up R&D centers in this country, she said.

"China's sci-tech innovation serves the interests of China and the whole world. In the face of the new round of scientific and technological revolution, we stand ready to work with other countries to pursue open and inclusive sci-tech cooperation, share the outcomes of sci-tech innovation and jointly address global challenges," Mao said.