This undated photo shows the Central Business District of Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, China. (PHOTO / CHINA DAILY)
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area took the sixth spot among 100 cities and metropolitan areas worldwide in the global innovation rankings, overtaking the Tokyo Bay Area for the first time.
Three Chinese innovation hubs made it to the top 10, with the other two being Beijing and Shanghai, which ranked third and 10th, respectively, according to the Global Innovation Hubs Index (GIHI).
San Francisco- San Jose continued to occupy the top spot in the latest rankings, followed by the New York metropolitan area, which has been in second place for three consecutive years
The index was jointly published by the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance of Tsinghua University (CIDEG) and Berlin-based Springer Nature on Monday.
The rankings were based on three main indicators — research innovation, the innovation economy and the innovation ecosystem. A total of 31 sub-indicators, including talent, infrastructure, research institutions, innovation enterprises, published papers, as well as patents and investment, were taken into consideration.
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San Francisco- San Jose continued to occupy the top spot in the latest rankings, followed by the New York metropolitan area, which has been in second place for three consecutive years.
Both the Greater Bay Area and Beijing advanced one place from the 2021 list, while Shanghai reached the top 10 for the first time — climbing from its previous 14th position.
Ling Chen, GIHI’s chief scientist and director at CIDEG, said many Asian cities and regions are moving up in the rankings, including Beijing, the Seoul metropolitan area, Singapore and the Greater Bay Area.
“These regions continue to grow their innovation economies, performing especially well in terms of renewable energy technologies,” she said.
“Asian cities now have a significant advantage in terms of renewable energy technologies. Asia accounts for seven of the top 10 in this category, and we can see that these cities are marching up the rankings. This shows that a strong capacity for green innovation can boost a city’s competitiveness.”
Asia took up 37 spots on the global list. The Seoul metropolitan area jumped from 21st to 12th place, while Singapore remained at 13th. The Tokyo metropolitan area dropped one place to seventh this year.
sally@chinadailyhk.com