People take photos at the Bund in Shanghai on July 21, 2021. [Photo/IC]

China's financial capital Shanghai boasts the most innovative \r\ncompanies in China, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported on Aug 9.

Among the top 500 most innovative companies in China, 56 are \r\nheadquartered in Shanghai, followed by Beijing and Shenzhen, with 50 and\r\n 39 of them respectively headquartered in these two cities.

Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province took the fourth place, \r\nclaiming 30 headquarters of China's innovative firms, according to a \r\nreport on China's listed companies' innovative index in 2021.

Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong province and Nanjing, capital of\r\n East China's Jiangsu province, respectively grabbed the fifth and sixth\r\n positions on the list with 18 and 14 innovative companies' \r\nheadquarters.

China's 2,384 A-share listed companies were chosen to be assessed in \r\ntwo dimensions which include innovation strength and innovation \r\nefficiency. Deep analysis on area, industry and investment portfolio \r\nreturns were made on the top 500 companies in terms of innovation index \r\nin the report.

The report also elaborated on the characteristics and regional \r\ndistribution of innovative companies, as well as whether there is a \r\ncorrelation between a company's innovation index and investment return.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a great impact on the global economy, \r\nresulting in a trend change in the restructuring of the global \r\nindustrial chain.

Local Chinese enterprises not only have to face the challenges \r\nbrought by the adjustment of business and product structure, but also \r\nhave the opportunity to enter the global value chain. Innovation is a \r\nleveraged force for local Chinese manufacturers to seek growth \r\nopportunities.