SHENZHEN — The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has topped the World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index 2025, overtaking Japan's Tokyo-Yokohama cluster to claim the No 1 spot for the first time.

Since 2020, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster had consistently ranked second globally. Its rise to the very top of the list underscores the region's dynamic innovation capabilities and the strong collaborative synergy within the GBA.

The 2025 innovation cluster ranking process included venture capital transaction volume as a new core indicator, alongside existing measures such as Patent Cooperation Treaty international patent applications and the number of papers published by each cluster in Science Citation Index Expanded journals.

Highlighting the importance of innovation clusters, Daren Tang, director-general of WIPO, said that they serve as powerful pillars of national innovation ecosystems, helping to consolidate and strengthen the journey from idea to market.

Tang added that this year's inclusion of venture capital activities has recalibrated the understanding of innovation strength, and the new results highlight which clusters are translating scientific research into economic outcomes.

In the GBA, intellectual property is treated not as the end goal of innovation, but as a starting point for market application. For instance, the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences produced an average of 4.7 patents per day over the past five years, with 1.3 patents transferred daily.

Liu Chenli, president of the SIAT, emphasized that the value of IP lies in its market transformation. The institute focuses on key R&D projects, high-level academic papers and high-quality patents, collaborating with institutions like the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and university technology transfer centers to align with industry needs.

Shenzhen's robust innovation ecosystem is further reflected in its substantial R&D investment, which reached 223.66 billion yuan ($31.34 billion) in 2024, accounting for 6.46 percent of the city's GDP. Enterprises contributed 93.3 percent of this investment, with industry leaders like Huawei, BYD and Tencent driving both innovation and patent output while supporting the growth of smaller firms.

Data from the Guangdong provincial market regulation administration revealed that in 2024, over 170 universities and research institutions in Guangdong held 99,200 patents, with patent transfers and licensing exceeding 141,000 and 19,000 instances, respectively.

This transformation of IP into tangible assets is facilitated by institutional innovations within the GBA. The launch of an international IP transfer platform in Shenzhen last December has further accelerated cross-border IP transactions, with 121 high-value patents already reaching intent-to-transact agreements and 30 completed deals.

Shenzhen has also been proactive in guiding patient capital toward early-stage and long-term hard-tech investments. Zhang Lin, head of Shenzhen's science and technology innovation bureau, said, "Shenzhen is actively developing technology finance, having established industrial guidance funds at the 100 billion yuan level, angel mother funds at the 10 billion yuan level, and a 2 billion yuan science and technology seed fund to build a financial service system covering the entire innovation lifecycle."

Ding Li, an economics researcher at the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, said: "The latest ranking indicates that the GBA, represented by the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster, is shifting its development engine toward 'engineer dividend', centered on high-quality human capital. Large-scale, high-quality human capital accumulation, combined with an effective corporate innovation ecosystem, has unleashed tremendous innovation momentum and economic value."

Xinhua - China Daily