WIPO China: WIPO Joins Hands with Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao to Build a Global Intellectual Property Innovation Hub

On February 25, 2025, the 2024 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area High-Value Patent Cultivation Layout Competition Award Ceremony (GBA IP Competition) was held in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province.

The event was co-hosted by the Guangdong Intellectual Property Administration, the Intellectual Property Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Economic and Technological Development Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region, and the Jiangmen Municipal People’s Government. Mr. Bai Guangqing, Senior counselor of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Office in China, was invited to attend the award ceremony and deliver a speech. Leaders from the China National Intellectual Property Administration, Guangdong Intellectual Property Administration, Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department, Macao Economic and Technological Development Bureau, and Jiangmen City also attended and addressed the ceremony. This year’s competition theme was: Implementing New Development Concepts and Establishing Benchmarks for High-Value Patents. An exhibition area for award-winning projects was set up at the venue, showcasing high-value patent achievements from cutting-edge projects in industries such as biomedicine, next-generation information technology, new materials, and energy conservation and environmental protection. Over 300 representatives from various sectors attended the event.

 

In his speech, Mr. Bai Guangqing highlighted that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is a globally recognized innovation hub. WIPO has consistently regarded the GBA as a “strategic partner” in fulfilling its global innovation mission. WIPO Director General, Mr. Daren Tang has visited Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen on multiple occasions, engaging in a series of high-level events with regional counterparts. The GBA not only leverages WIPO’s global service system effectively but has also pioneered a distinctive Bay Area model for an intellectual property innovation ecosystem. The WIPO Office in China will continue to support the development of the GBA’s intellectual property ecosystem, offering additional resources and services to help the region establish itself as a globally influential intellectual property hub.

 

The “GBA IP Competition,” now in its sixth year, has become a key platform for accelerating the cultivation and strategic layout of high-value patents across Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, as well as fostering collaborative development in patent industrialization. Since the inaugural event in 2019, the competition has attracted 4,655 participating projects, with 1,100 projects recognized as top 100, and 231 receiving gold, silver, and excellence awards. These projects involve over 25,000 patents, with participating projects generating revenues of 6.78 trillion yuan and patent assets valued at 24.563 billion yuan. The competition’s role in promoting the accelerated commercialization of patents has become increasingly evident.