Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou Overtakes Tokyo as World’s Leading Innovation Cluster, UN Report Finds
GENEVA, [Date of Original Article – Monday] – A major shift in global innovation leadership has occurred, with the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster in China now ranked as the world’s top innovation hotspot, according to the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Association (WIPO). The change, revealed in WIPO’s 2025 Global Innovation Index, marks the first time a Chinese cluster has held the top position, previously occupied by tokyo-Yokohama.
The re-ranking is attributed to WIPO’s broadened methodology, which now incorporates venture capital investment activity alongside traditional metrics of patent filings and scientific publications. “Venture capital investment activity helps capture how scientific and technological knowledge translates into start-up creation and, ultimately, new goods and services in the marketplace,” WIPO stated.
Previously, the index relied solely on patenting and scientific publishing data to assess innovation concentrations. despite the shift, both Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou and Tokyo-Yokohama remain powerhouses, collectively accounting for nearly one in five patent applications filed globally.
The updated rankings also reveal meaningful gains for several other innovation hubs. San Jose-San Francisco climbed to third place, surpassing Beijing, Seoul, and Shanghai-Suzhou. London experienced a considerable jump from 21st to 8th, and Bengaluru rose from 56th to 21st, both fueled by increased venture capital activity.”Innovation clusters form the backbone of strong national innovation ecosystems, helping to anchor and strengthen the journey from ideas to market,” said WIPO chief Daren Tang. He added that the recalibrated rankings “highlight which clusters are turning scientific research into economic results.”
The methodology change generally favored US clusters and those in India, while some European Union clusters saw declines, perhaps due to comparatively less vigorous venture capital markets.
China continues to dominate in terms of overall cluster representation, boasting 24 locations within the top 100, followed by the United States with 22. WIPO identified San Jose-San Francisco and Cambridge (UK) as the most innovation-intensive clusters relative to their population sizes.
Top 15 Innovation Clusters in 2025:
- Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou (China)
- Tokyo-Yokohama (Japan)
- San Jose-San Francisco (United States)
- Beijing (China)
- Seoul (South Korea)
- Shanghai-Suzhou (China)
- new york City (United states)
- london (Britain)
- Boston-Cambridge (United States)
- Los Angeles (United States)
- osaka-Kobe-Kyoto (Japan)
- Paris (France)
- Hangzhou (China)
- San Diego (United States)
- Nanjing (China)
