"Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" cluster jumps to the top of the global innovation ranking list.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the Global Innovation Index (GII) cluster rankings, with the "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" cluster surpassing the "Tokyo-Yokohama" cluster, rising by 1 spot to the top of the list, while the "San Jose-San Francisco" cluster rose by 3 spots to third place. WIPO stated that this year's GII cluster research included venture capital (VC) activity as a new indicator, reshaping the ranking landscape. London, ranked 3rd in venture capital transactions, climbed from 21st place to 8th place. For similar reasons, clusters in India also progressed, such as Bangalore jumping from 56th place to 21st. The clusters ranked 4th to 10th in the list are Beijing, Seoul, "Shanghai-Suzhou", New York City, London, "Boston-Cambridge", and Los Angeles. The top 100 innovative clusters are located in 33 economies, with China having the most clusters at 24, followed by the United States with 22, and Germany with 7. Apart from China and India, several middle-income economies also have clusters ranking in the top 100, including Sao Paulo in Brazil (49th), Cairo in Egypt (83rd), Tehran in Iran (63rd), Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia (86th) and its cross-border cluster shared with Singapore (16th), Istanbul in Turkey (58th), and Mexico City in Mexico (79th). Furthermore, the top three clusters in terms of scientific paper publications are Beijing (4% of global total), "Shanghai-Suzhou" (2.5%), and "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" (2.4%). The clusters with the highest proportion of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications are "Tokyo-Yokohama" (10.3%), "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" (9%), and Seoul (5.4%). Between 2019 and 2023, the top 100 clusters attracted nearly 169,000 venture capital transactions, with "San Jose-San Francisco" (6.9%), New York City (4.5%), and London (4.4%) leading the way. Based on population size, the clusters with the highest innovation density are "San Jose-San Francisco" in the United States and Cambridge in the UK, followed by "Boston-Cambridge" in the US, Ningde in China, and Oxford in the UK. Ningde jumped to 4th place globally, mainly due to the sharp increase in patent applications by energy technology leader Contemporary Amperex Technology. The Global Innovation Index cluster rankings, established in 2017, identify the concentration of world-class innovation activities in a given location through three core indicators: international patent applications submitted through WIPO's PCT, scientific paper publications, and this year's new addition of venture capital transaction volume. WIPO Director-General Francis Gurry stated that innovation clusters are the building blocks of strong national innovation ecosystems, helping to strengthen the path from creativity to market. Including venture capital transactions in this year's GII cluster methodology recalibrates the understanding of innovation strength, highlighting which clusters are successfully translating scientific research into economic outcomes.