By Sun Zhiyan, Research Department of Development Strategy and Regional Economy, DRC & Zheng Jianghuai, Nanjing University

Research Report, No.242, 2020 (Total 5986) 2020-10-13

Abstract: With the technological transformation of the industries, the intensification of technology containment by the US, and the accelerated restructuring of global supply chains following the COVID-19 epidemic, more uncertainties and new challenges are posed to China’s regional development. Some regions are losing their traditional advantages, and their ability to participate in the division of labor in the new economic system is insufficient. Regional differentiation intensifies, and the division of labor in the supply chain based on traditional industries faces the potential risk of breaking up, which has become a prominent issue restricting China’s regional economic layout for high-quality development. This paper, from the perspective of transforming the national economic growth drivers and improving the domestic supply chain’s resilience, proposes taking the “technology clusters” as the leverage to change the layout of traditional productive forces, pressing ahead the integration of new industrial, technological and regional divisions, and building a spatial layout that is compatible with the new economic system. In addition, more incentive talent policies, more region-oriented industrial and innovation policies need to be implemented, so as to create a sound environment for the development of “technology clusters.”

Keywords: high-quality development, regional economic layout, technology clusters