The geography of intercity technology transfer networks in China

In the era of the knowledge economy, the acquisition of exogenous knowledge is understood to be an important strategy for cities in their pursuit of economic growth. The Chinese government has taken measures to foster technology transfer between cities in an effort to promote the flow of knowledge and ideas. Patent transaction data from China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) covering the period 2008–15 are used to visualize the technology transfer map. The maps show that the frequency of inter-city patent transfer is intensifying, and the numbers of cities and city-pairs are increasing rapidly over time. Two key features of the network emerge: first, the dominant role played in the network by several cities that results in a ‘diamond-shaped’ spatial structure that has become more geographically extensive over time; and second, the hub-and-spoke structure of the network with Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen forming first-order hubs of technology transfer.