China has surpassed Japan as the second largest research and development (R&D) spender in the world, trailing only the United States, according to the World Intellectual Property Report 2011 released Monday by the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The U.S. remained the top dog of the global R&D rankings, despite the fact that its share dropped from 36.8 percent in 1993 to 33.4 percent in 2009.

China has emerged as a major R&D spender, with its share of the world's total R&D expenditures surging to 12.8 percent in 2009  from only 2.2 percent in 1993.

In 2009, about US$1.2 trillion was put into global R&D, almost doubling the amount of 1993 at US$623 billion. However, of the world's total, the high-income countries still accounted for about 70 percent, though their share slipped by 13 percentage points between 1993 and 2009.

In high-income countries, the business sector's share in the country's total R&D expenditures is about 70 percent, while in many Asian, Latin American and other middle-and low-income countries, the public sector is still the major contributor to R&D.

China's R&D investment, spurred by its businesses and public universities, easily exceeded the amount spent by such leading economies as Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Thanks to its rapid economic growth, the share of business R&D in China's total R&D expenditures is approaching the U.S. level, standing at about 73 percent.

Following are the top 12 largest spenders on industrial research and development in the world: