The World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) 2026 Global Innovation Index, released on September 8th, places the Sichuan-Chengdu cluster at 21st globally. This marks an improvement of three spots from the previous year, securing its position as the 7th-leading innovation cluster in China and maintaining its dominance in the western region.
Notably, Chengdu recorded the most significant upward movement among the world's top 30 clusters. In this year's ranking, China boasts 25 clusters within the global top 100, marking the fourth consecutive year the country leads in this category.
Since its debut on the index in 2018, Chengdu has demonstrated remarkable progress, advancing from 56th to 21st place. This represents an impressive cumulative climb of 35 positions over eight years, showcasing a sustained and dynamic innovation trajectory.
The city's rise in the global innovation rankings is firmly rooted in its solid intellectual property framework. Recently, the Chengdu Administration for Market Regulation has spearheaded initiatives to commercialize patents. These efforts have guided 78 universities and research institutions in cataloging 68,000 existing patents by category, with 37,000 qualifying for the national transferable patent database and 4,413 achieving industrial application.
In collaboration with the Sichuan Provincial Administration for Market Regulation, the city has established 49 high-value patent cultivation centers, reinforcing the innovative capacity of enterprises. The region has also developed a tiered system of intellectual property champions, cultivating 59 national-level demonstration enterprises and 69 provincial-level strong enterprises.
Since the 14th Five-Year Plan period began, Chengdu has secured 75 China Patent Awards, including two gold and eight silver medals. At the recently announced 26th China Patent Awards, the city received ten accolades, including three silver medals, six excellence awards, and one industrial design award. The winning projects span critical sectors such as energy and chemicals, nuclear engineering, rail transit, and the low-altitude economy, clearly demonstrating strong industry-academia-research collaboration.
Chengdu is proactively exploring flexible models like benefit sharing, cross-licensing, and joint development to ensure substantial returns from high-value patent commercialization. Up to June, the city mediated 942 intellectual property disputes, fostering healthy competition within its industries.
Latest figures show that as of June, Chengdu's inventory of valid invention patents reached 144,900, a year-on-year increase of 15.64%. High-value invention patents totaled 64,200, growing 6.1% quarter-on-quarter, equating to 29.82 high-value invention patents per 10,000 residents. From January to June, the city granted 31,000 patents, an 8.38% annual increase. This included 11,700 invention patents, a significant 29.09% surge, raising their share to 38% and signaling an ongoing optimization of the patent portfolio.
Officials from the Chengdu Administration for Market Regulation have indicated future priorities include sustaining the rapid expansion of high-value patents, accelerating their industrial application, enhancing patent navigation and portfolio strategies, and strengthening comprehensive intellectual property protection. These efforts aim to empower deeper integration of technological and industrial innovation, contributing significantly to building a robust intellectual property nation.