Shenzhen is China’s most innovative city, says HSBC
Foshan and Zhuhai also stand out among the nine cities of the Pearl River Delta
Companies based in China’s south-eastern city of Shenzhen are the most innovative in China, on the back of a number of traditional manufacturers that transitioned into the new economy and a rising start-up sector, according to new research presented by HSBC.
Chinese policymakers have long been looking to innovation to boost growth, which President Xi Jinping reiterated in his policy address at the Chinese Communist Party’s 19th Congress last month where he urged greater innovation from Chinese companies and referred in particular to big data, artificial intelligence and internet technologies.
The Chinese Corporate Innovation Report 2017, produced by Yicai Media Group and Zhejiang University’s School of Management but presented by HSBC, said that the nine cities in China’s Pearl River Delta (PRD) were “gaining a reputation as China’s creative and game-changing ‘Silicon Delta’ as companies there transition from traditional manufacturing sectors to the new economy, and a new generation of start-ups emerges”.
The HSBC report looked at the “innovative power” of about 1,200 listed companies in China, and found that Shenzhen-based corporates had the highest average score.
A company’s “innovative power” was measured by the scale of its research and development investment, number of patents, the novelty of its business model among other factors.
