Ossen Innovation, a Shanghai-based manufacturer of rare earth-coated steel materials, announced Wednesday that it has raised $22.5 million in its initial public offering this week.

The offering finished off a record year for Chinese companies in U.S. markets, as they accounted for nearly 25 percent of all completed IPOs and raised more than $4 billion, according to Bloomberg. What's more, three out of the 10 best-performing IPOs in 2010 were from Chinese ventures.

The world's three largest equity deals of the year also came from emerging markets: Petrobras in Brazil, the Taiwan-based AIA Group on the Hong Kong exchange and the Agricultural Bank of China. The offerings reflect these markets' rapidly progressing transition from manufacturing hubs into innovation and IP-focused powerhouses.

Earlier this month, China announced that it is considering investing $1.5 trillion throughout seven key industries - mainly alternative energy, information and biotech - over the next five years. But many analysts have declared their skepticism of the pledge, considering the investment equates to approximately 5 percent of the country's GDP.

Innovation-based industries are emerging in South America, Africa and southern Asia as well, forging new markets for intellectual assets.

"South Korea is providing loans and grants to Tanzania to bolster clinical teaching and hospital facilities," wrote Barbara Casassus for Nature.com. "Meanwhile, India, Brazil and South Africa are collaborating on nanotechnology projects and training researchers together."