Overtaking the Tokyo-Yokohama cluster, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou sci-tech cluster has surged to the top of the global innovation cluster rankings, according to the latest Global Innovation Index (GII) Cluster study released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on September 1.

The shift is attributed to the inclusion of venture capital (VC) deal activity as a new metric in this year's GII Cluster study.

Established in 2017, the GII Cluster ranking identifies local concentrations of world-class innovation activity using three key metrics: international patent filings via WIPO's Patent Cooperation Treaty, scientific publications, and, new this year, the number of venture capital deals.

The latest report shows that the top 100 global innovation clusters are spread across 33 economies. China leads the pack with 24 clusters, followed by the United States with 22. Germany comes in third with 7 clusters, while India and the United Kingdom each have 4. Canada, Japan, and the Republic of Korea are tied with 3 clusters each.