A spectacular night view of the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China) in Wuhan. [Photo/Optics Valley of China]

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China released the 2022 national innovative city monitoring and assessment reports on Feb 15. Wuhan – capital of Central China's Hubei province – ranked fifth in the innovation index of national innovative cities, with the top four being Shenzhen, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou.

Shenzhen has topped the list for the past four years, but Nanjing, Wuhan and Xi'an have narrowed their gaps with the city due to their rich sci-tech and educational resources.

By the end of 2022, MOST had supported 103 cities and districts in becoming nationally innovative cities. These cities contain 51 percent of China's population, 85 percent of the nation's R&D investment, and 85 percent of the country's sci-tech enterprises, and account for 67 percent of China's GDP.

The top 100 innovative cities in China were also released, with Wuhan ranking seventh. Beijing and Shanghai ranked first and second, while the majority of cities on the list were from Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.