The World Intellectual Property Organization releases the Global Innovation Index: China ranks first in the world in number of clusters

The World Intellectual Property Organization released the Global Innovation Index on September 8. Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, Tokyo-Yokohama, San Jose-San Francisco, Seoul and Beijing were listed as the world's five largest innovation clusters.

WIPO bases its assessment on international patent applications, scientific publications and venture capital transactions.

Among the world's top 100 innovation clusters, China has 25, ranking first for the third consecutive year. The United States has 20. China and the United States together account for nearly half of the world.

Germany follows with seven clusters: Munich, Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Heidelberg-Mannheim and Hamburg.

Eva Schewior, Director of the German Patent and Trademark Office, said: "Among the top 100 innovation clusters in the world, Germany ranks third in number, second only to China and the United States. This is an outstanding achievement. This fully shows that many regions in our country have extremely innovative companies and outstanding research institutions."

India and the UK both have four of the top 100 innovation clusters.

Three regions in China rank among the top ten

Three regions in China are among the top ten innovation clusters, namely Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou at the top, and Beijing and Shanghai-Suzhou at fifth and sixth.

Germany ranks relatively low in the top 100, with Munich at the forefront at 28th. Rounding out the top ten innovation clusters in Europe are London and Paris, ranking eighth and tenth respectively.

Among the top 100 rankings, China's Ningde had the largest increase, jumping 24 places to 75th.

WIPO also noted that two clusters ranked among the top 100 for the first time this year, namely Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (92nd) and Fuzhou, China (96th).

Other Chinese regions in the top 100 are: Hangzhou (13th), Nanjing (15th), Wuhan (17th), Chengdu (21st), Xi'an (23rd), Hefei (32nd), Qingdao (33rd), Changsha (41st), Tianjin (45th), Chongqing (52nd) ), Jinan (63rd), Changchun (69th), Harbin (70th), Zhengzhou (73rd), Shenyang (74th), Ningde (75th), Xiamen (78th), Dalian (85th), Ningbo (87th), Zhenjiang (94th), Fuzhou (96th).