The Chinese mainland progresses steadily in global competitiveness while the United States continues the decline that began in 2008, according to the latest Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012 by the World Economic Forum.

Emerging markets and developing economies, particularly in Asia, have seen relatively strong economic growth, attracting increasing financial investment, the report said.

Over the past five years, several economies in Asia and the Pacific region — including the Chinese mainland, Indonesia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka — have made important strides in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) rankings.

The mainland rose by one rank from last year to 26th. It has improved each year since 2005, while Hong Kong maintained its 11th position and Taiwan remained stable at 13th.

As the most populous country in the world, China continues to take a lead in the BRICS by a significant margin. The other members are Brazil, 53; Russia, 66; India, 56; and South Africa, 50.

The US, Japan and Europe continue to experience slow or decelerating growth, with persistently high unemployment and continued financial vulnerability, particularly in some European economies.

Gross domestic product growth rates for advanced economies in 2011 are expected to remain at levels that, for most countries, are not strong enough to reduce the rise in unemployment during a recession.

The US again stumbled down the GCI rankings, falling for the third year in a row to fifth place. While many structural features continue to make its economy extremely productive, a number of escalating weaknesses have lowered the US ranking in recent years.

This year’s top 10 is dominated by European countries. Switzerland tops the list, followed by Sweden, 3; Finland, 4; Germany, 6; the Netherlands, 7; and Denmark, 8.

Singapore continues its upward trend to become the second-most competitive economy in the world, overtaking Sweden, while the United Kingdom rounds out the top 10 as it recovers from the crisis.