On September 26, the Information Office of Beijing Municipality held a press conference on the city's notable achievements made in the "14th Five-Year Plan" for Beijing. The conference this time focused on the updates on the city as an "International Center for Science and Technology Innovation".

According to a preliminary assessment by a third-party institution, Beijing has recorded significant improvement in its innovation capacity, competitiveness and influence. The city has become a key hub in the global innovation network, making notable progress and yielding substantial results.

The city has secured its status as a global leader in five aspects. For eight consecutive years, it has ranked first in the "Science Cities" list of the Nature Index released by Springer Nature. The number of citations of works by highly cited scientists reached 431, ranking first among the Global Innovation Cities for two consecutive years. For three consecutive years, Beijing placed third in the Global Innovation Hubs Index released jointly by Tsinghua University and Springer Nature. The city has ranked third worldwide for the number of unicorn companies for four consecutive years. Its R&D expenditure intensity has stayed at around 6 percent, among the highest globally, with basic research accounting for about 16 percent, a level on par with that of leading innovative countries.

Beijing has also excelled in innovation on five fronts. In 2024, Beijing recorded 159.8 high-value invention patents per 10,000 residents, double the figure in 2020 and more than 11 times the national average, securing its top place in China. The transaction volume of its technology contracts increased from 631.62 billion yuan in 2020 to 915.33 billion yuan, remaining the top in China. Its Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone has continued to rank first among 178 national high-tech zones, with a total revenue of 9.85 trillion yuan, accounting for about one-sixth of the national total. The numbers of its national high-tech enterprises and "little giant" enterprises also ranked first among all cities in China. Since 2021, the city has contributed nearly half of the achievements named in "China's Top 10 Scientific Advances" and nearly 30 percent of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Awards, with both figures ranking first nationwide.

(Source: Beijing Fabu)