Urban Collaborative Innovation Relationship in China: Inter-Subject Collaboration and Inter-City Correlation

There are few in-depth studies on urban collaborative innovation between subjects and cities. Based on the triple helix (TH) theory and innovation network theory, this study constructs the theoretical framework of the urban collaborative innovation system from the collaboration between innovation subjects and the spatial correlation between cities. By using the invention patent data of 30 innovative cities from 2014 to 2023, this paper empirically examined the rule characteristics, evolution trend, and synergetic degree of the urban innovation system in China. The results show that: (1) The innovation capacity of Chinese cities has been continuously enhanced, and the imbalance in innovation levels among cities is relatively prominent. Inter-city innovation cooperation has evolved from a “dual-core driven” network structure to a “multi-center driven” one. (2) The bilateral relationship of university-industry within a city is the closest. There are specific substitution and crowding-out effects between industry-university collaboration and industry-government collaboration. (3) In the trilateral relationship of university-industry-government, cities like Changchun, Shenyang and Dalian have relatively close tripartite collaboration, while cities like Shenzhen, Dongguan and Jiaxing have relatively loose tripartite relationships. (4) The inter-city correlation of urban agglomeration is prominently better than that of other regions, especially in clusters of the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. (5) The intercity tight-subject tight, encompassing 17 cities such as Nanjing, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou, is the most important collaborative category. The research results provide theoretical sustenance and policy enlightenment for coordinating the relationship between different subjects and cities in collaborative innovation.