On April 26, the 2024 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference - Global Science and Technology Cluster Innovation Forum with the theme of "Gathering Scientific and Technological Forces to Lead Urban Development" was successfully held. The forum invited representatives of international organizations and top science and technology clusters, as well as well-known experts and scholars at home and abroad, to seek the future path of innovation and development of science and technology clusters.
The parallel forum was hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Beijing Municipal People's Government, and organized by the WIPO Office in China, the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology Development Strategy, the People's Government of Haidian District, and Zhongguancun Development Group.
More than 100 people attended the forum, including Lin Xin, Vice Minister of Science and Technology, Marco Alemán, Assistant Director General of WIPO, Yu Yingjie, Member of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and Secretary of the Education Working Committee, representatives of international organizations and top global science and technology clusters, as well as well-known experts and scholars at home and abroad.
Bringing together innovative elements to promote regional development
The "science and technology cluster" model leads the global innovation and development
In today's world, science and technology clusters have become an important carrier of science and technology and industrial development, promoting regional development with rich innovation resources and continuous innovation achievements, and gradually becoming the leader of scientific and technological innovation and a powerful engine of economic development in various countries.
Science and technology clusters are the convergence of innovation elements, the leaders of scientific and technological innovation, and the vane of emerging industries, which have a significant impact on the vitality and prosperity of the global economy. At present, the world has entered the era of "big science", and scientific and technological innovation has shown more new characteristics such as interdisciplinary, cross-border integration, and open collaboration, and cultivating emerging science and technology clusters has become a key move for countries to seize the opportunities of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation and enhance national innovation and industrial development capabilities.
The Chinese government attaches great importance to scientific and technological innovation and actively promotes the development of scientific and technological clusters. It is understood that since the 80s of the last century, the mainland has successively promoted the establishment of high-tech zones, innovation cities and other scientific and technological clusters. In 2023, 178 national high-tech zones will gather 60% of the country's resources, and the GDP of the parks of listed enterprises on the Science and Technology Innovation Board will reach 18 trillion yuan, accounting for 14% of the country's total GDP.
In the "2023 Global Science and Technology Cluster List" released by the World Intellectual Property Organization last year, China has 24 science and technology clusters in the top 100 on the list, becoming the country with the highest number of clusters on the list for the first time.
China's science and technology clusters are gaining momentum
The three clusters are among the top five in the world
WIPO's Global Innovation Index (GII) and Science and Technology Cluster Rankings are important outcomes to help people understand the global innovation and development landscape. In this parallel forum, Carsten Fink, Chief Economist of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), shared how the World Intellectual Property Organization measures global innovation and interprets the "Global Science and Technology Cluster Rankings".
Fink pointed out that in the 2023 list of global science and technology clusters released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the top 100 science and technology clusters are distributed in 10 countries (China, the United States, Germany, Japan, Canada, India, South Korea, France, the United Kingdom, and Australia), mainly concentrated in East Asia, Western Europe and North America, indicating that scientific and technological innovation is very concentrated.
It is worth mentioning that China's science and technology clusters are developing strongly, with a total of 24 science and technology clusters entering the top 100 list in 2023, surpassing the United States (21 clusters) for the first time to rank first in the world. Among them, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster, the Beijing cluster, and the Shanghai-Suzhou cluster are among the top five in the world, and the rankings of other Chinese clusters are also rising rapidly.
According to Fink, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou science and technology cluster and the Beijing cluster are characterized by a focus on digital technology and communication technology, and a large number of patent applications have emerged in related fields. In contrast, patent applications in the Shanghai-Suzhou cluster are more diverse, covering a variety of different technologies and fields, including pharmaceuticals and medical.
The global innovation landscape is developing towards "polycentricity".
Innovation elements continue to converge in leading cities
Xue Lan, Dean of Schwarzman College of Tsinghua University and Director of the Academic Committee of the School of Public Policy and Management, focused on the "International Science and Technology Innovation Center Index" (GIHI) evaluation system at the forum. He pointed out that at present, the global urban innovation landscape is developing in a polycentric way, and the three core regions of North America, Europe and East Asia are the most prominent. Among them, the innovation capacity of the East Asian region is constantly improving.
In recent years, global innovation factors have continued to converge to the top cities, and the top 10 cities are relatively stable. These leading cities have played an important role in innovation and radiation driving in national and regional development.
It is worth noting that benefiting from globalization, openness and cooperation, the San Francisco Bay Area, the New York Bay Area, the Tokyo Bay Area, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area, which are oriented to the international market, have significant advantages in the integration of scientific and technological innovation, and occupy four of the top five regions in the "Innovation Highland" score.
Xue Lan believes that many cities in China are deeply embedded in the global innovation network, and China has played a leading role in the development of global science and technology innovation, whether it is scientific papers or patent activities. At the same time, China is also striving to cultivate an innovation ecosystem, promote high-quality development in various regions, and cultivate world-class enterprises and industrial clusters with global competitiveness.