Thread by @JiangJiang43

#Beijing, the capital and a northern city of China, and #Shenzhen, in south #China's Guangdong province, are set in a race for the country's most innovative city - yet on very different tracks.
gingerriver.com/p/beijing-vs-s…

Only Beijing, Shanghai and the Greater Bay Area are awarded with two titles, becoming genuine "dual centers" of national and international influence.

According to statistics on science and technology funding, out of Beijing's 260 billion R&D expenditure, the proportion coming from research institutions and universities is as high as 55%, which is the highest in the country, while the proportion coming from enterprises is 43%.

According to the article "Why is Tencent's Growth So Steep?" published by South Reviews, #Tencent has applied for over 62,000 patents since its establishment, ranking second among global internet companies, only behind Google.

It is worth noting that Tencent's innovation curve has a striking similarity to the innovation curve of Shenzhen city.

Shenzhen has relatively few top-tier universities or research institutions. Its innovation relies on more than 20,000 high-tech enterprises and dozens of private companies listed in the top 500 of China.

The third difference is that the emphasis of innovation of Beijing and Shenzhen is different, but they are not mutually exclusive. One focuses on fundamental and original innovation (from zero to one), while the other focuses on technological innovation (from one to ten) and

industrial innovation (from ten to infinite), but the distinction is not always clear-cut...In fact, as a city with the most abundant scientific and technological resources, Beijing also has the highest investment in basic research.

Data shows that in 2021, Beijing's basic research funding exceeded 40 billion yuan (about 5.6 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for nearly a quarter of the national total.

In comparison, the existence of a large number of technology companies in Shenzhen has made it the most diverse region in China in terms of new technologies and business models.