An AG600 massive amphibious aircraft, world's largest of its kind, rolls off a production line in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, on July 23, 2016. [Photo/Chinadaily.com.cn]

Among G20 countries, China ranks ninth in innovation, according to a new report.

The G20 National Innovation Competitiveness Yellow Book 2015-2016 was made public on Thursday. It shows that China is the only developing country that makes the top 10 in innovation capability among G20 members, Beijing News reported on Thursday.

The growth of China in innovation competitiveness during the period outperformed the G20 average. It registered a rise of 2.6 in competitiveness score, compared with 0.5 for G20 average.

The ranking demonstrates that China's efforts to improve its innovation ability in recent years have paid off, said the report.

The Yellow Book was compiled by Fujian Normal University, China Science and Technology Exchange Center under the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Institute for International Strategic Studies of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China.

The US, the UK, and Japan took the top three spots on the list.

The nation's progress in innovation is in line with government support, according to Liu Dong, managing director of Accenture Technology Labs in Beijing.

"The government is placing more emphasis on innovation as the country looks for ways to produce products with larger added value," he said in an earlier interview.

Premier Li Keqiang highlighted entrepreneurship and innovation as the new engines to spur the country's economic growth in the 2015 Government Work Report.

The government has since unveiled dozens of measures to support grassroots entrepreneurs, including offering them tax breaks and helping them in funding their businesses.

G20 was initiated in 1999 and consists of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union (EU).

The 2016 G20 Summit will be held in Hangzhou of China on Sept 4 and 5.