(Yicai) Sept. 2 -- The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster has topped the World Intellectual Property Organization's science and technology cluster ranking, as the addition of the venture capital deal activity as a new key metric has reshaped this year's list.

Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou climbed one spot to lead the ranking this year, while Tokyo-Yokohama slipped to second place, according to the WIPO 2025 Sci-Tech Cluster ranking released yesterday. San Jose-San Francisco jumped to third from sixth.

The three key metrics the WIPO used to evaluate the sci-tech clusters were Patent Cooperation Treaty applications, scientific publications, and VC deals, with the latter being the newest addition.

"Innovation clusters form the backbone of strong national innovation ecosystems, helping to anchor and strengthen the journey from ideas to market," said Daren Tang, director general of the WIPO. "The inclusion of VC deal activity in this year's GII cluster methodology is recalibrating our understanding of innovation strength, and these new results highlight which clusters are turning scientific research into economic results."

The introduction of the VC deal metric contributed to the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster's rise to the top position, reflecting its superior performance in VC activity compared to Tokyo-Yokohama.

China boasted 24 sci-tech clusters in the top 100, followed by the United States with 22 and Germany with seven. Besides Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai-Suzhou also made it into the top 10, ranking fourth and sixth, respectively. Hangzhou ranked 13th and Nanjing 15th.

Beijing led in scientific publications, accounting for 4 percent of the global total, followed by Shanghai-Suzhou at 2.5 percent and Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou at 2.4 percent. In PCT applications, Tokyo-Yokohama ranked first with 10.3 percent, followed by Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou at 9 percent and Seoul at 5.4 percent.

Editor: Futura Costaglione