BEIJING: China’s Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster has been ranked first globally in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025’s ranking of the world’s top 100 innovation clusters released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Monday.
A spokesperson for China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said that the ranking reflected the high international recognition of the innovative capacity of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Hong Kong will continue to closely collaborate with GBA sister cities to advance innovation and technology development and make greater contributions to building the country as an innovative nation as well as advancing human progress, the spokesperson said.
Zhang Zhicheng, deputy director of the China National Intellectual Property Administration, noted that the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster has ranked among top global innovation clusters for consecutive years, highlighting China’s vibrant innovation landscape.
Chen Jiachang, vice minister of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, said that Hong Kong boasts world-class research institutions, an international talent pool, and a robust intellectual property system, making it a key hub in the global innovation network. China’s central government fully supports the HKSAR in accelerating the development of an international innovation and technology center.
The GII Cluster ranking identifies local concentrations of world-class innovation activity using three key metrics: international patent filings via WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty, scientific publications, and, newly added this year, the number of venture capital deals.
The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster held the second position for five years before it overtook Japan’s Tokyo-Yokohama to clinch the top spot this year.
The San Jose-San Francisco cluster in the U.S. took third place, while Beijing and Seoul were ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.
The top 100 global innovation clusters are distributed across 33 economies, among which China leads with 24 clusters, followed by 22 in the U.S. and seven in Germany. –The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
