The growth and spatial distribution of China's ICT industry: New geography of clustering and innovation

Abstract

The rapid growth of China's information and communications technology (ICT) industry in recent years has attracted much scholarly attention. However, studies of China's ICT industry have been hampered by the lack of systematic and comparable data. The first national economic census undertaken in 2004 offered us a valuable opportunity to fill this gap. This paper examines the growth and structural characteristics of China's ICT industry and reveals that the ICT manufacturing sector has a strong tendency to conglomerate in several eastern coastal areas. Our data analysis has found no significant relationship between spatial agglomeration on the one hand and innovation and economic performance on the other in the case of China's ICT industry. A survey in Guangdong explains why spatial agglomeration has not brought about better innovative performance. Although frequent local production linkages are identified within the ICT industrial cluster, there is no cooperation or exchange of information in research and development (R&D) and other innovative activities. Strong local linkages have not reduced distrust among the firms within the cluster. More importantly, most local enterprises have engaged in "peripheral" innovation. They have no desire to seek R&D cooperation or acquire relevant knowledge and technology from others. © Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University.