The technological system of Chinese manufacturing industry: A sectorial approach

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the technological system of Chinese manufacturing. The input–output method and network analysis are applied to investigate the structure and performance at the system level and the role of each sector at the individual level in 1997 and 2002. Firstly, the R&D-flow matrices for per unit output are constructed to examine the technology intensity and constitution of each sector. And then they are combined with the economic size and R&D investment structure in order to have a more comprehensive understanding of the system at the gross level, and reveal the main technology diffusion providers, acquirers and techno-economic flows between sectors. Results of both years show that the R&D performance and technology providing for diffusion are more concentrated than technology acquiring, and this difference becomes even greater in 2002. There are fewer sectors which act as main technology diffusion sources while more sectors participate as acquirers of technology diffusion. The techno-economic flows have high dependence on a few traditional sectors and the contribution of high-tech sectors such as ICT is quite limited.