In September, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released its Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking of the world's top 100 innovation clusters. The "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" cluster, which had held second place for five consecutive years, surpassed Japan's "Tokyo-Yokohama" cluster to claim the top spot for the first time.
At a press conference on December 18 highlighting Guangdong's achievements during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Shenzhen showcased a series of impressive data in technological innovation. As a key pillar of the "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" innovation cluster, Shenzhen plays a significant supporting role.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Shenzhen's total R&D expenditure grew from 151.08 billion yuan in 2020 to 245.31 billion yuan in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of 12.9%. In 2024, the city's R&D spending accounted for 48% of Guangdong Province's total, maintaining its position as the second-highest among Chinese cities. The R&D intensity—measured as a percentage of GDP—rose to 6.67%, ranking first among major Chinese cities.
"We prioritize enterprises as the critical link between technology and industry, directing policy, funding, and project resources toward them to foster an innovation ecosystem where '90% of six key indicators' are achieved," said Zhang Lin, Director of the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Bureau. The city is now home to 25,000 national high-tech enterprises and 1,333 national-level "little giant" specialized and sophisticated SMEs, the highest among Chinese cities.
In terms of policy support, Shenzhen encourages leading enterprises to spearhead major technological breakthroughs, strengthens horizontal industry-academia-research collaboration, involves enterprises in sci-tech decision-making, and implements post-subsidy programs for R&D expenses. Financially, the city has increased fiscal support for corporate R&D, allocating over 75% of its 43 billion yuan in sci-tech funding to enterprises in 2024. Additionally, 32,900 enterprises benefited from R&D tax deductions exceeding 360 billion yuan, reducing their tax burden by over 90 billion yuan.
Shenzhen has also established over 4,000 high-standard innovation platforms, including one national laboratory, six national innovation centers, 20 national key laboratories, four provincial laboratories, 82 provincial key laboratories, and more than 300 municipal key laboratories. Major sci-tech infrastructure projects, such as Pengcheng Cloud Brain III, synthetic biology research facilities, and brain science research centers, are either completed or under construction. The city has also set up 128 concept verification centers and pilot testing bases to bridge gaps in industry-driven innovation.
Talent is a cornerstone of innovation. Shenzhen boasts a talent pool of 7.19 million, including 4.06 million skilled workers, 2.55 million professionals, 26,500 high-level experts, and over 230,000 returnees. With 1,050 scholars listed among the world's top 2% scientists, Shenzhen has ranked first in talent attractiveness for the post-95s generation for two consecutive years.
Furthermore, the city has built a multi-tiered sci-tech finance system, featuring a 100-billion-yuan industrial guidance fund, a 10-billion-yuan angel mother fund, and a 2-billion-yuan sci-tech seed fund. By the end of 2024, outstanding sci-tech loans in Shenzhen reached 987.3 billion yuan, with intellectual property pledge financing totaling 51.1 billion yuan.