(Yicai) Sept. 9 -- Yangtze River Delta, home to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, and other cities, ranked first among Chinese areas by the level of science and technology innovation, according to a think tank under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong province, Jiangsu province, Tianjin, and Zhejiang province topped China's 31 provincial-level regions by comprehensive science and technology innovation level, the report published by the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development at a 17th Pujiang Innovation Forum's achievement release event showed yesterday.

The report assessed China's provincial-level regions in five science and technology aspects: innovation environment, activities input, activities output, high and new techs' industrialization, and promotion of social and economic development.

The Yangtze River Delta, led by Shanghai, has become the most competitive Chinese area in terms of science and technology innovation, Xuan Zhaohui, a member of a committee responsible for compiling the report and head of the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development's Institute of Technical Forecasting and Statistical Analysis, told Yicai.

The 31 regions scored on average 78.43 points on the comprehensive science and technology innovation level this year, up 1.3 points from the previous year, with a notable increase in the activities input and output indexes and sustained growth in the promotion of economic and social development.

Shanghai ranks second among the 31 regions in terms of comprehensive science and technology innovation, with Jiangsu ranking fourth and Zhejiang sixth. The three areas scored above all rest on the comprehensive science and technology innovation level, and along with the ninth-ranked Anhui province, are part of the Yangtze River Delta.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in North China also showed stronger comprehensive strength. Specifically, Beijing topped the 31 regions by comprehensive science and technology innovation level, while Tianjin ranked fifth. Driven by coordinated regional development, the region’s other member province Hebei moved up two spots to 19th, while Guangdong, the largest economy in south China, ranked third.

Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Guangdong led China in innovative science and technology development, with their comprehensive scores above the 31 regions' average, the report showed. Chongqing in West China and 18 other areas were deemed second-tier players as they scored below the average but above 50, while northern Shanxi province and five others were marked as third-tier players after scoring below 50.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev