The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province ranked 10th in the list of national innovative cities in 2020, up two places from last year's ranking, according to reports released by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China on Dec 26.

Qingdao, Shandong province at night [Photo/WeChat account: qdfbwx]

Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Xi'an, Suzhou, Changsha, Chengdu and Qingdao made up the top 10 in the list.

The ranking looked at 72 cities across China and assigned scores based on specific indicators such as innovative infrastructure, technological and educational resources, industrial and innovative capability, entrepreneurship, as well as open and collaborative innovation levels.

In recent years, Qingdao has been ramping up efforts to boost industrial reform and improve science and technology, foster a good institutional environment and promote a culture of innovation in order to become an important national scientific and technological innovation base in northern China.

Statistics from the Qingdao municipal bureau of science and technology show that Qingdao's R&D expenditure has increased from 4.43 billion yuan ($678.5 million) in 2015 to 29.46 billion yuan this year, ranking first in the province.

The total number of high-tech enterprises has increased from 964 in 2015 to 3,829 this year, accounting for one third of the province's total.

In the first three quarters of this year, the output value of high-tech industries accounted for 61.67 percent of industrial output value above designated size, 17.21 percentage points higher than the provincial average.