Zhang Jiaqian, Si Yuefang, Yu Jianhui
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 20;20(6):e0326503. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0326503. eCollection 2025.
With the rise of China's innovation capacity and position in the global innovation system, an increasing number of scholars are paying attention to the knowledge diffusion from developed economies to China. However, there is less research looking into the destinations of transnational knowledge diffusion from China and their influencing factors from the dynamic perspective. This study uses USPTO data for the period 2003-2022 to illustrate the spatial pattern of Chinese transnational knowledge diffusion and estimates the impact of geographical distance, knowledge pipelines, and hierarchy in the global innovation system. We find that the global innovation system has been comparatively stable, but that China has successfully transitioned from the periphery to being a semi-peripheral and then a core country. The knowledge transfer from China occurred firstly to core and semi-peripheral countries, as the reversed knowledge flow, and then to developing countries along the "Belt and Road" initiative with an increasingly important role in "South-South Cooperation". Regarding its influencing factors, geographical distance is significant across all periods, highlighting that distance remains an indispensable factor in innovation and knowledge flow. Knowledge pipelines and hierarchy in the global innovation system are conditionally influential. Knowledge pipelines were only significantly positive when China was a semi-peripheral country. Compared with the periphery, the knowledge flow from China increasingly tended towards semi-peripheral countries during its catching-up process, but the knowledge could be accepted by the core countries only during the time when China was a semi-peripheral country. Our research unpacks the complexity of pipelines and hierarchy as influencing factors from the dynamic perspective.
随着中国创新能力的提升及其在全球创新体系中地位的提高，越来越多的学者开始关注从发达经济体到中国的知识扩散。然而，从动态视角研究中国跨国知识扩散的目的地及其影响因素的研究较少。本研究使用2003 - 2022年美国专利商标局（USPTO）的数据来说明中国跨国知识扩散的空间格局，并估计地理距离、知识管道以及全球创新体系中的层级关系的影响。我们发现全球创新体系相对稳定，但中国已成功地从边缘国家转变为半边缘国家，进而成为核心国家。中国的知识转移首先以反向知识流动的形式发生到核心国家和半边缘国家，然后沿着“一带一路”倡议流向发展中国家，并在“南南合作”中发挥着越来越重要的作用。关于其影响因素，地理距离在所有时期都具有显著影响，这突出表明距离仍然是创新和知识流动中不可或缺的因素。全球创新体系中的知识管道和层级关系具有条件性影响。只有在中国是半边缘国家时，知识管道才具有显著的正向影响。与边缘国家相比，中国在追赶过程中知识流动越来越倾向于半边缘国家，但只有在中国是半边缘国家时，核心国家才会接受其知识。我们的研究从动态视角剖析了作为影响因素的管道和层级关系的复杂性。
