Storyline: China's Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster has surged to the top of the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) 2025 Global Innovation Index (GII), marking a historic first and signaling a global shift toward China-led technological ecosystems. According to WIPO, innovation clusters are dynamic sci-tech regions that serve as the beating heart of national innovation systems. These hubs unite top universities, researchers, inventors, venture capitalists, and research and development firms to drive technological advancement. Since 2017, WIPO has evaluated the innovation capacity of global economies annually. This year's GII Cluster ranking identifies local concentrations of world-class innovation activity using three core metrics: international patent filings via WIPO's Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), scientific publications and venture capital (VC) deals, which was newly added this year. Wan Yong, vice dean of the Law School at Renmin University of China, said the inclusion of VC data reflects a broader shift in how innovation is measured globally. "The level of venture capital activity in a region reflects the maturity of its innovation ecosystem, the strength of its industrial base, the friendliness of its policy environment, and the confidence of its capital markets. The inclusion of VC data marks a shift from a research-driven to a market-driven evaluation model. It signals the assessment of innovation extending from technical output to commercial value," said Wan. According to WIPO data, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster accounts for 2.4 percent of global scientific publications, 9.0 percent of PCT patent filings, and 2.9 percent of global VC deals. While none of these individual metrics ranked first, the cluster's overall performance secured it the top spot, highlighting its strength in consistently translating intellectual property into economic value. "This year's results show that China's innovation capabilities are improving in both quality and efficiency and greatly contributing to the global innovation development. It also shows that China's efforts to build a world-class business environment have been recognized by the international community," said Wan. Shotlist: FILE: Guangdong Province, south China - Date Unknown: 1. Various of researchers at work 2. Various of humanoid robot placing objects into box 3. Various of robotic arm working at lab 4. Aerial shot of cityscape Beijing, China - Recent: 5. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wan Yong, vice dean of Law School, Renmin University of China (partially overlaid with shots 6-8): "The level of venture capital activity in a region reflects the maturity of its innovation ecosystem, the strength of its industrial base, the friendliness of its policy environment, and the confidence of its capital markets. The inclusion of VC data marks a shift from a research-driven to a market-driven evaluation model. It signals the assessment of innovation extending from technical output to commercial value." [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Guangdong Province, south China - Date Unknown: 6. Aerial shots of cityscape 7. Employees at office 8. Various of researchers at work, computer screen [SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 9. Various of achievement cards, visitors scanning card to learn about achievements Beijing, China - Recent: 10. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wan Yong, vice dean of Law School, Renmin University of China (ending with shot 11): "This year's results show that China's innovation capabilities are improving in both quality and efficiency and greatly contributing to the global innovation development. It also shows that China's efforts to build a world-class business environment have been recognized by the international community." FILE: Zhejiang Province, east China - Date Unknown: 11. Various of robotic arms working in factory; worker. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]