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Technology exchange patterns in China: an analysis of regional data

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Abstract

There is much interest in technology exchange in the literature, but relatively little research directly provides understanding of technology exchange patterns at a regional level within a country. This study uses a unique dataset of Chinese patent licensing to study technology exchange patterns in thirty Chinese provinces since 2000. Our results indicate that five distinct technology exchange patterns have recently emerged in China: importers, exporters, self-sustainers, active generalists, and isolationists. To illustrate a refined map of these exchange patterns, we used a blockmodel analysis. We found two leading blocks in China that are active in technology exchange within and across blocks. Although many less-developed provinces have begun participating in regional technology exchange networks, the scale of technology exchange in these provinces is lower, and they are more active as net technology importers. Our results provide the basis for firms to form technology strategies and for governors to promote the growth of regional technology exchanges.

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Notes

  1. In this study, thirty administrative provincial-level regions were selected as the analysis unit. Here an administrative unit is a province, a municipality or an autonomous region in China. Since Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Tibet are different in their economic conditions from most of the other regions in the mainland and also information from these regions is not easily available, this paper excludes them from the analysis and thus only thirty regions were included. In the following, we will refer to the administrative units as regions and do not make distinctions between provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions.

  2. For example, Christopherson and Clark (2010) studied the EU and U.S. cases and pointed out that the learning region is directly related to both local institutional and governmental resources, Fritsch and Slavtchev (2010) investigated local knowledge spillovers in three German regions and confirmed interregional difference in terms of innovation efficiency, McAdam et al. (2012) specifically analyzed technology transfer from academia to industry by examining three local universities.

  3. The top ten innovative regions in terms of patent licensing are Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Hunan, Henan and Hebei in 2001, and are Jiangsu, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, Beijing, Shanghai, Anhui, Sichuan, Liaoning and Henan in 2011.

  4. According to the criteria used by the National Bureau of Statistics of the P.R.C., SMEs refer to those enterprises with less than 1,000 employees or 400 million Yuan in revenue. http://www.stats.gov.cn/. During the period of 2011–2012, Zhongxin group based in Guangdong applied 4,623 patents, Baoshan group based in Shanghai applied 654 patents, China National Petroleum Corporation based in Beijing applied 3,639 patents, Rixin group based in Jiangsu applied 148 patents.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions. This research is sponsored by projects grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no: 71302133), Youth Project of Ministry of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences Planning Funding (grant no. 13YJC790154), and Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (grant no.20130181120057).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business School of Sichuan University, Sichuan University, No. 29, Wangjiang Road, Chengdu, 610064, Sichuan, China

    Yuandi Wang & Xin Pan

  2. School of Business and Management, University of London, Francis Bancroft Building, Queen Mary, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK

    Lutao Ning

  3. School of Business Administration, Hunan University, No. 11, Lushan South Road, Changsha, 410082, Hunan, China

    Jian Li

  4. School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Tsinghua East Road, Beijing, 10086, China

    Jin Chen

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Correspondence to Jian Li.

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Wang, Y., Pan, X., Ning, L. et al. Technology exchange patterns in China: an analysis of regional data. J Technol Transf 40, 252–272 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-014-9338-y

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