Mapping U.S.-China technological “decoupling”: Beyond U.S.-China relations

Abstract

As a global phenomenon of political and economic geography, a partial “decoupling” of U.S. and Chinese technology ecosystems is well under way. It should be noted that the biggest manifestation of this decoupling is the U.S. crackdown on Chinese technology companies. The U.S. government has placed over 1000 Chinese firms on the Entity List, Unverified List, Chinese Military firms Sanitations List, and NS-CMIC as a representative action to stifle the Chinese technology industry. The spatial patterns of the technological decoupling between China and the United States can be summed up by looking at the spatial distribution of blacklisted firms. Beyond China, the United States largely works to prevent China from forging indirect business links with U.S. high-tech companies through its allies (for example, the United Kingdom). Core cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen in China, which are also hubs for Chinese high-tech businesses, are the major targets of industrial suppression in the United States. The U.S.-China rivalry will continue to shape the global economic geography in the future.