Chinese Internet and tech powerhouses Tencent, Huawei and Lenovo made it to the Boston Consulting Group's 10th annual global survey of the 50 most innovative firms, which was released on Wednesday.
In the survey where 1,500 executives served as the respondents, Tencent grabbed the 12th spot, while Huawei and Lenovo grabbed the 45th and 50th spots, respectively.
According to Andrew Taylor, the report's co-author, this achievement marks a significant increase from China's standing a decade ago where no local firms made it to the list.
This year, the group named Apple, Google and Tesla Motors as the world's top three most innovative companies.
The list is comprised 29 companies from the United States, 11 from Europe and 10 from Asia.
The annual international survey also showed that innovation has become a vital factor in a firm's corporate success. A huge 79 percent of the respondents remarked that innovation is included in their company's top three priorities. The figure was the highest since the question was asked a decade earlier.
The participating executives also pointed out the following attributes as critical in the field of innovation: speed, well-run research and development process, systematic exploration of linked markets, and the utilization of various technological platforms.
Despite many tech firms occupying the list, traditional counterparts still proved they are not lagging behind their competitors.
"Yet we still see plenty of traditional companies on the list. They, too, have used technological advances to their own innovative ends. Five of the top 10 companies in 2015 are non-tech," the report noted.
"On the larger list of the 50 most innovative companies, 38 (76 percent) are non-tech companies," it added.