Xi'an ranks 18th in the global ranking of science and technology clusters
On August 27, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the pre-report of the Global Innovation Index (GII) Report 2024 at IP Week @ Singapore 2024.
In the "Top 100 Science and Technology Cluster Briefs 2024", Xi'an ranks 18th in the world and 7th in China.
The Global Innovation Index (GII), launched in 2007 by the World Intellectual Property Organization, Cornell University, and INSEAD (Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires), ranks more than 120 economies worldwide on their innovation performance. It is a key reference tool for global policymakers, business executives, and others.
The science and technology clusters can be entire regions or cities. The ranking methodology involves two metrics. The first metric focuses on the location of inventors listed in published patent applications under the WIPO Patent Cooperation Treat (PCT). The second metric considers the locations of authors listed in published scientific articles. The WIPO collects and ranks these indicators to identify the world's most active hubs of technological activity.
The report found that China is home to 26 of the world's top 100 science and technology clusters, up from 24 last year and for the second year in a row, more than any other country. The US remains in second place, with 20.
In recent years, Xi'an has been rising up the global rankings of tech clusters, climbing to 22nd place globally in 2022 and breaking into the Top 20 for the first time in 2023, where it ranked 19th.
According to the 2024 Global Innovation Index (GII) report, Xi’an filed 3,060 PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications and published 149,970 scientific articles over the past five years.
The report also shows that the Xi'an Thermal Power Research Institute Co,. Ltd, Xi'an Jiaotong University, and Shaanxi Lighte Optoelectronic Materials Co., Ltd are the top three institutions in terms of patent applications in the city. Xi'an Jiaotong University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, and Xidian University are the three universities with the highest number of scientific papers published.
For Xi'an, computer technology accounted for the largest share of patent applications, at 11%, while engineering dominated scientific papers, at 27%.
In the past year, the number of national high-tech enterprises in Xi'an exceeded 12500, and that of science and technology SMEs surpassed 15000, with both growing by more than 20% year on year. According to the 2023 data on total R&D spending released, Xi'an reached 60.108 billion yuan. Notably, enterprises' R&D spending accounted for 49% of the total R&D budget, further solidifying the role of enterprises as the main driver of technological innovation.
Since 2024, Xian has accelerated the commercialization and application of science and technology advances, strengthening corporate and university needs matching. In the first half of this year, the city facilitated the local commercialization of 291 projects, cultivated 3,469 technology managers, and saw technology contract transactions amount to 162.77 billion yuan.
