Shanghai wins 1st WIPO City of Innovation award
WIPO Director General Daren Tang (L) presents an award to the Chinese city of Shanghai during the Inaugural Award Ceremony for the first WIPO City of Innovation award at the headquarters of WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 12, 2026. Chinese city Shanghai, Britain’s Liverpool and Belgium’s Charleroi were announced Monday by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as winners of the first WIPO City of Innovation award. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
Chinese city Shanghai, Britain’s Liverpool and Belgium’s Charleroi were announced Monday by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as winners of the first WIPO City of Innovation award.
Launched for the first time in 2026, the WIPO City of Innovation award is open to cities across all 194 WIPO member states and is bestowed on visionary cities for their bold pledges to foster innovation and creativity over the coming year. The three winners were chosen from 15 finalist cities.
According to WIPO, Shanghai’s vision is to strengthen its position as an international hub for science, technology and intellectual property (IP), while fostering a broader culture of innovation and creativity. Its pledges include expanding IP education and services, opening innovation infrastructure and data, supporting cultural and creative industries, and strengthening connections between research, industry, entrepreneurs and investors.
Zhou Yaming, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, said the award represents WIPO’s strong recognition of Shanghai’s innovative developments and its efforts in building a thriving IP ecosystem.
“It also reflects the international community’s endorsement of China’s commitment to open innovation, mutual benefits and shared success,” He said.
Winners were selected by an independent international jury of high-profile experts in the cultural and creative sectors, urban planning, community development, and innovation-driven growth.
Andrea Dempster Chung, member of the International Jury Panel and Co-Founder & Executive Director for Kingston Creative, said 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.
“This would be pivotal in shifting the city’s future, and this is one of the reasons why Shanghai was selected,” she said. ■
People attend the Inaugural Award Ceremony for the first WIPO City of Innovation award at the headquarters of the WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 12, 2026. Chinese city Shanghai, Britain’s Liverpool and Belgium’s Charleroi were announced Monday by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as winners of the first WIPO City of Innovation award. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
People attend the Inaugural Award Ceremony for the first WIPO City of Innovation award at the headquarters of the WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 12, 2026. Chinese city Shanghai, Britain’s Liverpool and Belgium’s Charleroi were announced Monday by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as winners of the first WIPO City of Innovation award. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
Reference Link:- https://english.news.cn/20261013/84855be276804b5a9bce89cdb1eaa3b8/c.html
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
