Innovative technology is undeniably integral to daily life in the 21st century, and cities around the world are locked in a competitive battle to rise to the forefront of this rat race. Global innovation clusters driving research, inventions, and developments have sprung up as a result and, despite our small size, Hong Kong is not to be left behind in the game.
In a new Innovation Cluster Ranking 2025 report released by the United Nations-backed World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the combined cluster of Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou has topped the rankings, following WIPO’s introduction of a new venture capital metric in the 2025 report. Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou occupied second place on the previous year’s list, but shot up to snatch the crown from Tokyo–Yokohama this time.
WIPO previously based its annual findings on two key metrics: how many international patents were filed and how many scientific papers were published by individuals associated with each region. With this third metric – venture capital deal locations – WIPO aims to paint a more complete picture of high concentrations of innovation, invention, and pioneers, taking into consideration entrepreneurial activity and start-ups.
While Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou shows a stronger performance in venture capital deals and activity, pushing the hub past other competitors to first place, both Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou and Tokyo–Yokohama make equally significant contributions to scientific publications and patenting applications.
In the 2025 rankings, San Jose–San Francisco climbed up to third, Beijing dropped to fourth, and Seoul continues to sit behind Beijing at fifth. Shanghai–Suzhou remains in the top 10, while hubs in the US and UK make strong showings. Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto and Nanjing dropped off the top 10 in 2025, making this year’s top innovation hubs equally split between Eastern and Western contenders. Singapore, which found itself at number 33 in the 2024 report, benefitted from the new venture capital metric as well. It made a meteoric rise to 16th spot in this year’s rankings, but even with a robust ecosystem of tech incubators and accelerator programmes, our sunny neighbourhood was not able to breach the top 10.
In terms of who can lay claim to the most innovation clusters in the world, China leads with 24 and the US follows closely with 22, leaving other countries behind in the dust. Germany comes closest at third place, with seven innovation clusters.
‘Innovation clusters form the backbone of strong national innovation ecosystems, helping to anchor and strengthen the journey from ideas to market,’ says WIPO Director General Daren Tang. Introducing the new venture capital deal activity into this year’s cluster methodology recalibrates ‘our understanding of innovation strength, and these new results highlight which clusters are turning scientific research into economic results.’
Read the full Innovation Cluster Ranking 2025 report by Wipo here.
Top 10 innovation clusters in 2025:
- Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou
- Tokyo–Yokohama
- San Jose–San Francisco
- Beijing
- Seoul
- Shanghai–Suzhou
- New York City
- London
- Boston–Cambridge
- Los Angeles
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