The Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou innovation cluster has retained the top position in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s 2026 ranking of the world’s largest innovation clusters.
WIPO said the cross-border cluster ranked first for a second consecutive year, ahead of Tokyo–Yokohama, San Jose–San Francisco, Seoul and Beijing.
The ranking identifies geographic concentrations of innovation activity using international patent filings, scientific publications and venture capital deals. WIPO released the cluster chapter ahead of the full Global Innovation Index 2026, which is scheduled to be unveiled later this month.
Asian clusters dominate the top of the ranking
Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou remained first overall, with Tokyo–Yokohama in second place and San Jose–San Francisco third. Seoul ranked fourth, followed by Beijing, Shanghai–Suzhou, New York City, London, Boston–Cambridge and Paris.
WIPO said the top three clusters together account for more than one in every five international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Huawei is the leading PCT applicant in the Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou cluster, while Sun Yat-sen University is its top publishing organization.
Asia also leads in the overall geographic concentration of the top 100 clusters. Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania together account for 36 of the world’s top 100 innovation clusters, compared with 30 in Europe and 23 in North America.
China has 25 clusters in the global top 100, the largest number for any economy, while the United States has 20. Germany follows with seven, while India and the United Kingdom have four each.
Ranking now includes venture capital activity
The 2026 cluster analysis combines patent and scientific publication data with venture capital activity, giving the ranking a broader view of how research and invention connect with commercial capital.
The indicators point to different strengths among leading regions. WIPO said Asian clusters dominate international patent filings and scientific publications, while US and UK clusters show particularly high concentrations of venture capital activity.
Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou also appears among the leading clusters for venture capital deals, alongside US centers such as San Jose–San Francisco and New York City and the UK’s London.
Measured relative to population rather than overall size, San Jose–San Francisco ranked first for innovation intensity, followed by Cambridge in the UK, Ningde in China, Boston–Cambridge and Oxford.
China adds another top-100 cluster
China increased its representation in the top 100 to 25 clusters. Ningde recorded the largest jump in the ranking, climbing 24 places from 99th to 75th, supported by growth in patent filings, scientific publications and venture capital activity.
Fuzhou also entered the top 100 at 96th. Outside China, Riyadh entered the ranking at 92nd, marking Saudi Arabia’s first appearance among the top 100 innovation clusters.
WIPO said China and the United States together now host nearly half of the world’s 100 largest innovation clusters.
The continued lead of Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou highlights the concentration of advanced manufacturing, research, venture investment and technology companies across the Greater Bay Area. The cluster spans major technology and manufacturing centers in mainland China together with Hong Kong’s finance, research and capital-market ecosystem.
WIPO’s ranking measures the scale of observable innovation activity rather than innovation quality or economic performance on its own. Even so, the results offer a useful picture of where patenting, research output and venture investment are becoming most concentrated as competition for technology leadership intensifies across Asia and other regions.
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