Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, has emerged as a standout hub of technological innovation in China.

It's formed an industrial landscape with the digital economy at the center and its synergistic development of cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and robotics. A rising number of tech companies and significant innovation projects with international competitiveness have emerged in Hangzhou.

According to the Global Innovation Index or GII report — released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO on Aug 27 last year — Hangzhou ranked 14th in the world among science and technology clusters.

In the 2024 rankings, Hangzhou overtook international cities like Los Angeles and London, securing the 14th spot globally and the 6th spot in China.

The report highlighted the top three entities in terms of published patent applications under the WIPO Patent Cooperation Treaty or PCT in Hangzhou. They were the Alibaba Group, Zhejiang University and Alipay (Hangzhou) Information Technology Co Ltd, accounting for 18 percent, 10 percent and 6 percent of the total, respectively.

Overall, Hangzhou's success in attracting talent and fostering a flourishing environment for innovation is said to underscore its position as a thriving tech hub with a promising future in the global landscape.

The city has been consistently attracting talent — including over 350,000 university graduates under the age of 35 over the past five years.