By Qingdao Daily / Guan Hai News reporter Geng Tingting

QINGDAO DAILY, September 9 — The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently released its 2026 ranking of the world’s top 100 innovation clusters, with 25 Chinese clusters making the list. China ranked first globally for the fourth consecutive year in the number of clusters represented in the top 100 with Qingdao ranking 33rd worldwide, one place higher than the previous year, and remaining among China’s top 10 for the sixth consecutive year.

Qingdao’s science and technology sector has in recent years been following the strategic priorities of the CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee and the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government to focus on strengthening the supply of high-quality technological innovation, deepening the integration of technology and industry, accelerating the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, and fostering a high-standard innovation ecosystem. The city’s administration has remained firmly committed to using technological innovation to drive the development of new quality productive forces and take its innovation drive to new heights while accelerating the development of Qingdao as a leading city in science and technology. Qingdao now has 17 national key laboratories, more than 15,000 technology-based enterprises and over 2,500 technology managers where technology innovation loans exceeded 220 billion yuan in 2025 as the value of technology contracts surpassed 76 billion yuan.

The WIPO Innovation Cluster Ranking is an annual ranking published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It assesses the world’s most active cities and city clusters in innovation based on three core indicators: international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), scientific publications and venture capital deals.