China's patterns of international technological collaboration 1976–2010: a patent analysis study

Abstract

This study focuses on the trajectories and patterns of China's international collaborations over the period 1976–2010, using patent statistics and association analysis methods. The results identify those government policies that have significantly encouraged changes in the scale and scope of China's collaborations since 1997. The USA and Taiwan are major international collaborators with China, and the top cooperative entities are large-scale multi-national firms, which specialise in production, sales research and development of information or electronics technology; in contrast, universities and research institutions have a negligible presence in international collaborative patenting. This study finds that although China has developed significant international collaborative networks since the 1990s, it still needs to extend these ties to an even greater range of international partners and establish a broader scope of research interests.