Institute of International Business and Economics Innovation and Governance, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai, China.
Institute of International Business, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China.
Front Public Health. 2023 Feb 17;11:1121860. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1121860. eCollection 2023.
The natural disasters and climate anomalies caused by increasing global carbon emissions have seriously threatened public health. To solve increasingly serious environmental pollution problems, the Chinese government has committed itself to achieving the goals of peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. The low-carbon patent application is an important means to achieve these goals and promote public health.
This study analyzes the basic situation, spatial network, and influencing factors of low-carbon patent applications in China since 2001 at the provincial and urban agglomeration levels using social network analysis based on data from the Incopat global patent database.
The following findings are established. (1) From the number of low-carbon patent applications, the total number of low-carbon patent applications in China increased year by year, while the number of applications in the eastern region was larger than those in the central and western regions, but such regional differences had been decreasing. (2) At the interprovincial level, low-carbon patent applications showed a complex and multithreaded network structure. In particular, the eastern coastal provinces occupied the core position in the network. The weighted degree distribution of China's interprovincial low-carbon patent cooperation network is affected by various factors, including economic development, financial support, local scientific research level, and low-carbon awareness. (3) At the urban agglomeration level, the eastern coastal urban agglomerations showed a radial structure with the central city as the core. Urban innovation capability, economic development, low-carbon development awareness, level of technology import from overseas, and informatization level are highly correlated with the weighted degree of low-carbon cooperation networks of urban agglomerations.
This study provides ideas for the construction and governance of low-carbon technology innovation system and perspectives for theoretical research on public health and high-quality development in China.
全球碳排放增加导致的自然灾害和气候异常，严重威胁着公众健康。为了解决日益严重的环境污染问题，中国政府致力于实现碳达峰和碳中和的目标。低碳专利申请是实现这些目标和促进公众健康的重要手段。
本研究利用 Incopat 全球专利数据库的数据，采用社会网络分析方法，分析了 2001 年以来中国省级和城市群低碳专利申请的基本情况、空间网络和影响因素。
研究发现：（1）从低碳专利申请数量来看，中国低碳专利申请数量逐年增加，东部地区的申请数量大于中部和西部地区，但这种区域差异呈下降趋势。（2）在省际层面，低碳专利申请呈现出复杂的多线程网络结构。特别是东部沿海省份在网络中占据核心地位。中国省际低碳专利合作网络的加权度分布受到多种因素的影响，包括经济发展、金融支持、地方科研水平和低碳意识等。（3）在城市群层面，东部沿海城市群呈现出以中心城市为核心的放射状结构。城市群的创新能力、经济发展水平、低碳发展意识、海外技术引进水平和信息化水平与城市群低碳合作网络的加权度高度相关。
本研究为低碳技术创新体系的建设和治理提供了思路，为中国公共卫生和高质量发展的理论研究提供了视角。
