Three of China's science and technology (S&T) clusters are among the world's five, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced. Wang Wenbin, Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, said that the achievement showed the success of China's measures to encourage relevant regions to leverage their strength as reservoirs of innovation and increase their ability to innovate and boost economic growth. On September 20, the WIPO released the Global Innovation Index 2023 (GII), which showed that three Chinese S&T clusters – Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, Beijing, as well as Shanghai-Suzhou – were among the world's top five. In addition, the GII identified 24 S&T clusters in China, up from 21 in 2022, as the country is now home to the greatest number of S&T clusters, said the WIPO.
Wang said that the achievement showed that relevant regions have used their advantages in innovation. “Since the first edition of the GII was released in 2007, China has been on the list at various ranks, reflecting the continuous improvement of China's innovation-driven development,” Wang added. China's innovation-driven index reached 336.3 in 2022, up 15.5% year-on-year, and social research and development investment surpassed CNY3 trillion for the first time, ranking second worldwide. Daren Tang, Director General of the WIPO, said that China has become a major contributor to international intellectual property work, and has successfully transformed itself into a global center of innovation, creativity and technology. Wang reaffirmed that innovation is linked to international cooperation, openness and sharing. "China will keep implementing the win-win strategy of opening-up, improving openness, promoting international communication and cooperation in science and technology, and building an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for development," he noted, as reported by the Global Times.
