- The city was selected from 15 finalists for its plans to expand intellectual property services, open innovation infrastructure and strengthen links between research and industry
- Shanghai’s R&D spending reached about 4.5% of GDP in 2025, while its three leading industries surpassed 2 trillion yuan in combined scale
Shanghai has won the inaugural City of Innovation Award from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), joining Liverpool in the United Kingdom and Charleroi in Belgium as the award’s first three recipients.
The awards ceremony took place in Geneva on October 12. Shanghai was nominated through China’s National Intellectual Property Administration and selected by an independent international jury from 15 finalist cities.
WIPO established the award to recognize cities making ambitious commitments to promote innovation and creativity over the following year.
Building an ecosystem
According to WIPO, Shanghai aims to strengthen its position as an international hub for science, technology and intellectual property while fostering a broader culture of innovation and creativity.
Its commitments include expanding IP education and services, opening access to innovation infrastructure and data, supporting cultural and creative industries, and strengthening links among researchers, businesses, entrepreneurs and investors.
“Shanghai’s application was extremely impressive, not just because of its strong research and development base that the city already had, but for the sheer scale of its ambitions and the strength of pledges,” Andrea Dempster Chung, a member of the international jury, said. “This would be pivotal in shifting the city’s future and this is one of the reasons why Shanghai was selected.”
“The award represents WIPO’s strong recognition of Shanghai’s innovative developments and its efforts in building a thriving IP ecosystem,” Zhou Yaming (周亚明), deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government, said. “It also reflects the international community’s endorsement of China’s commitment to open innovation, mutual benefits and shared success.”
Research backs ambitions
Shanghai’s application was supported by figures highlighting its research capacity and industrial development.
In 2025, the city’s total R&D spending reached about 4.5% of gross domestic product, while its three leading industries — integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence — exceeded 2 trillion yuan ($299 billion) in combined scale.
From January to August 2026, Shanghai granted 36,500 invention patents, up 17.73% from a year earlier. As of June, the city had 67.6 high-value invention patents per 10,000 residents.
Zhu Xueyan (朱学彦), deputy director of the Shanghai Institute for Science of Science, said this year’s globally pioneering achievements were becoming more than isolated cases.
Examples include Neuracle’s NEO, the first implantable brain-computer-interface (BCI) device approved for market use in China. It is classified as a Class III medical device by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). Another example is the world’s first CAR-T therapy approved for solid tumors.
Turning patents into capital
Shanghai has also introduced a raft of measures to help companies commercialize intellectual property and use it to secure financing.
GPU maker Biren Technology (壁仞科技) obtained approval for several key patents just 41 days after filing applications, benefiting from the city’s fast-track patent examination system.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Co-Fun Biotech (上海蔻沣生物科技有限公司) secured a 6 million yuan R&D loan from Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank using more than 70 patents as part of its intellectual property portfolio, turning intangible assets into financing.
Shanghai’s delegation said the award would serve as both recognition and an incentive. The city plans to make global innovation a central theme of its development strategy for the next five years.
It will also step up efforts to strengthen intellectual property protection and build its role as an international hub for science and technology.
Header image credit: Unsplash
