Wuhan improved its global ranking from 18th in 2025 to 17th this year in the 2026 Global Innovation Index (GII) Ranking of the World's Top 100 Innovation Clusters, released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on Sept 8.

Over the past five years, Wuhan has produced 7,049 PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications and 122,556 scientific papers, and completed 730 venture capital transactions. Notably, 7 percent of its PCT patent applications were co-submitted with inventors from outside the city, with Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, Shanghai-Suzhou, and Beijing being the top three collaborative regions.

WIPO assesses innovation clusters in its annual index based on three key indicators: the location of inventors on PCT patent applications, the affiliation of authors of published scientific papers, and the location of companies that received venture capital funding, then compiles and ranks these indicators to identify the most active regions globally for innovation activities.

China has maintained its position as the country with the most clusters on the list for four consecutive years. Among the top 10 clusters by size, China's "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" cluster has topped the list for two years running, with the Beijing cluster in 5th place and the "Shanghai-Suzhou" cluster in 6th place.