Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou will achieve an even brighter performance in this year's Global Innovation Index (GII) top 100 science and technology clusters ranking, maintaining its remarkable record of having ranked second globally for five consecutive years, said Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po.
In a Sunday blog post, Chan said the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will host two major events in the city on Monday (Sep 1), beginning with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the SAR government and WIPO to share the Hong Kong judiciary's rulings in the field of intellectual property rights to the organization's database.
Chan noted that Hong Kong's participation in the database will enable WIPO to have a clearer understanding of the city's relevant legal protection system and enhance its confidence in using Hong Kong for R&D and related investments.
As for the ranking, the financial chief said WIPO examines the density of patent-filing and articles published in scientific research journals to identify and rank the leading geographical areas in global S&T invention and innovation activities.
He pointed out that the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster has ranked second in the world for the past five consecutive years. As Hong Kong and the cities in the Greater Bay Area continue to increase their investment in innovation and technology and promote closer cooperation with complementary advantages, Chan is confident that this year's ranking will be even more impressive.
For the ranking last year, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster filed 2,303 Patent Cooperation Treaty applications per 1 million inhabitants during 2019-2023 and published 3,469 scientific articles per 1 million inhabitants during 2018-2022, both increasing from the previous cycles.
