A view of Tencent's booth during an expo in Beijing.[CHINA DAILY]

In March 2025, Clarivate, a leading global IP consultancy and analytics firm, released its annual ranked list of Top 100 Global Innovators. Six mainland Chinese companies made the list, with Tencent (2nd) and Huawei (9th) from Guangdong province both ranking in the top 10.

The full list of Chinese honorees includes Tencent (2nd), Huawei (9th), BOE Technology (12th), Ant Group (77th), AAC Technologies (90th), CATL (91st).

Screenshot of Huawei's official English website

The report highlighted that mainland China showed the second-most significant ranking improvements globally, reflecting its rapid innovation growth.

Notably, Tencent and Huawei—both headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong—are also China's top two R&D spenders. Tencent invested ¥70.7 billion in R&D in 2024, with 85,000+ global patent applications (45,000+ granted) while Huawei spent ¥179.7 billion on R&D (20.8% of its annual revenue).

Source: Guangzhou Daily
English author & editor: Lyu Yun