The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2026 top 100 innovation clusters report at its headquarters in Geneva on September 8th. The report shows that China ranked first in the number of listed clusters for the fourth consecutive year, with three Chinese clusters ranking among the world's 10 largest. Among them, the Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou cluster topped the list for the second year in a row.

In recent years, Guangdong has focused on building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) into an international science and technology innovation hub and has stepped up efforts to improve the quality of intellectual propertycreation. From January to July 2026, Guangdong filed 15,664 Patent Cooperation Treaty(PCT) applications, up 3.57% year on year, maintaining its top position nationwide. In the first half of 2026, the province recorded a total of 96,000 patent transfers and licensing transactions, ranking first in China with a year-on-year increase of 18.6%. The value added of patent-intensive industries accounted for one-fifth of the province's GDP.

Meanwhile, Guangdong has continued to expand its pool of venture capital. It has set up a 100-billion-yuan provincial strategic emerging industries investment guidance fund, with a focus on strategic emerging industries and future industries. It has also built a project pool under the "Insurance Capital Entering Guangdong" initiative, with a total investment scale of more than 20 billion yuan.

Guangdong has also introduced an innovative Guangdong and Hong Kong Universities "1+1+1" Joint Research Collaboration Scheme, with funding for the first batch of projects exceeding 100 million yuan. Four Guangdong-Hong Kong jointly operated universities, including the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, have been established, while a"1+12+N" system of innovation and entrepreneurship incubators for Hong Kong and Macao youths has been developed to a high standard. Yuan Haoran, deputy director general of the Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that Hong Kong research teams have significant strengths in basic research, while the Chinese mainland offers extensive application scenarios.The two sides therefore complement each other perfectly.

蝉联全球第一不是偶然，解码“深港穗”创新集群的湾区答卷

世界知识产权组织8日在日内瓦总部发布《2026年全球创新指数》百强创新集群报告。报告显示，中国上榜集群数量连续第四年位居世界第一；中国三大集群进入集群规模前十榜单，其中“深圳-香港-广州”集群连续第二年名列榜首。

近年来，广东聚焦大湾区国际科技创新中心建设，推进知识产权质量提升工作。2026年1—7月，全省PCT申请15664件，同比增长3.57%，保持全国首位。2026年上半年，全省专利转让、许可总量9.6万次，位居全国首位，同比增长18.6%；专利密集型产业增加值占全省GDP的1/5。

同时广东持续做大风投创投基金规模，组建总规模1000亿元的省战略性新兴产业投资引导基金，重点投向战略性新兴产业和未来产业；建设“险资入粤”融资项目库，总投资规模超200亿元。

广东创新实施粤港高校“1+1+1”联合资助计划，第一批项目资助金额超过1亿元；建成香港科技大学（广州）、香港中文大学（深圳）等4所粤港合办高校，高水平建设“1+12+N”港澳青创基地体系。对此，中国科学院广州能源研究所副所长袁浩然表示，香港科研团队在基础研究领域具备显著优势，而内地有广阔的应用场景，“恰好形成了完美的双向互补”。

文｜记者 黎秋玲 杨进怡
图｜记者 黎秋玲 王磊 王俊伟
译｜魏薇
英文审校｜郑奕玲