Ordos city in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has been listed among China's top 100 cities for innovation capacity for the third consecutive year, according to the 2025 Report on Innovation Capacity of National Innovative Cities released by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China.

The report, one of the country's most authoritative assessments under the national innovation survey system, evaluates cities across five dimensions – innovation governance, original innovation, technological innovation, commercialization of R&D results, and innovation leadership.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–25), Ordos has placed scientific and technological innovation at the core of its economic and social development, achieving a comprehensive upgrade in innovation capacity.

In 2024, the city's fiscal spending on science and technology reached 2.48 billion yuan ($354.29 million), ranking first in the region. Total R&D investment rose to 6.49 billion yuan, accounting for 54.4 percent of regional growth, with R&D intensity reaching 1.02 percent, above the regional average.

Innovation platforms in Ordos have expanded rapidly, with the city now hosting the region's only national demonstration zone for implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as one national-level and one regional high-tech industrial development zone.

Ordos is also home to one Inner Mongolia laboratory, five key regional laboratories, and 13 new R&D institutions, including research institutes jointly established with Peking University and China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing).

The city's enterprise innovation base continues to expand. Through programs to double the number of high-tech and technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, the total is expected to exceed 1,000, supported by industry-led innovation alliances in sectors such as cashmere and coal-based new materials.

Major technological breakthroughs have accelerated across areas, including advanced hydrogen production systems, mercury-free PVC manufacturing, alpha-olefin separation, fly ash-based aluminum-silicon alloys, and green aviation fuel. Ordos has also been approved to host a nationally recognized pilot testing platform for modern coal chemical innovation.

Meanwhile, the innovation ecosystem has been further optimized through updated science and technology policies, increased incentives, talent innovation hubs in major cities, and entrepreneurship competitions that have attracted dozens of enterprises to the city.