The world is experiencing unprecedented changes, international power dynamics are profoundly adjusting, the external environment is unstable and uncertain, and the field of technology is becoming the focal point of great power competition. Technological innovation has become a key variable concerning national development and security, as well as long-term competitiveness. The 202 Central Economic Work Conference proposed to "build Beijing (Jing-Jin-Ji), Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta), and Guangdong-Hong-Macao Greater Bay Area as international science and technology innovation centers", expanding the scope of the Beijing international science and technology innovation center to Jing-Jin-Ji the scope of the Shanghai international science and technology innovation center to the Yangtze River Delta. This aims to accelerate the formation of China's main source of original innovation, jointly strategic guidance for building a powerful country in science and technology, and establish a benchmark for supporting and leading Chinese-style modernization with technology. This significant move will further promote the construction international science and technology innovation centers with global influence, effectively and powerfully promote the upgrading of industries led by technological innovation, and continuously stimulate new productive forces of quality

The construction of international science and technology innovation centers has yielded remarkable results.
An international science and technology innovation center a city or region that occupies a leading and dominant position in global science and technology innovation activities and plays a significant role in value creation in the global value network. It has the of scientific research, technological innovation, industrial drive, and cultural leadership, presenting characteristics such as a dense concentration of science and technology innovation resources, active science and technology innovation activities, science and technology innovation capabilities, and extensive science and technology innovation impacts. Proactively planning and constructing international science and technology innovation centers and playing their leading role in regional innovation and development has a strategic measure for major countries in the world to respond to a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation and to enhance their comprehensive national competitiveness.
Since the 18 National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has deployed the construction of the three international science and technology innovation centers Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which has already yielded obvious results. Since the start of the construction of the three centers we have made significant efforts to strengthen original innovation, produced a number of original achievements, and gathered to form several advanced manufacturing industry clusters. Its radiation and leading role continue to emerge. the list of the top 100 innovative clusters in the world released by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2025, the number of top 10 innovative clusters in China has ranked first for three consecutive years, and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster has leaped to the top of the global list
In the process of building international science and technology innovation centers, the three places share many commonalities while each displaying its own advantages. Beijing gathers high-quality science and resources, with prominent basic research and original innovation capabilities, and has made obvious achievements in building the world's important science centers and innovation highlands and promoting the output of major achievements. Shanghai adheres to the "dual-wheel drive" of scientific and technological innovation and institutional and mechanism innovation, striving to build an open innovation ecology with global competitiveness, andpires to become an important source of scientific and technological innovation, a strategic high ground for independent innovation, and an important hub of the global innovation network. The Guangdong-H Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area leverages its advantages as a pioneer in reform and opening up, and is accelerating the formation of an economic system that is primarily driven and supported by, striving to enhance its capacity to transform scientific and technological achievements and to build a global science and technology innovation highland and an important source of emerging industries. The construction of the international science and technology innovation centers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has already formed a pattern of distinctive functions and positioning and made progress in a coordinated and forward-looking manner.
Expansion and quality improvement are imperative
At present, scientific and technological innovation has entered a highly complex and stage. Whether it is breakthroughs in original innovation, key core technology research and development, or large-scale application of scientific and technological achievements, it requires the coordinated efforts of types of elements. In the new situation, the model of promoting the construction of international science and technology innovation centers mainly by cities, although it has played an important role in gathering highend innovative resources, has gradually shown problems such as insufficient spatial carrying capacity, limited industrial transformation, and incomplete innovation chains. Looking at the global scientific and technological innovation centers with important, they are basically operating in the form of urban agglomerations or urban circles. International scientific and technological competition is evolving from single point competition to system competition. The expansion of construction of international scientific and technological innovation centers is a major strategic decision made to grasp the general trend of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation and to enhance the global and competitiveness of China's international scientific and technological innovation centers.
The expansion of the international scientific and technological innovation center is not only about the expansion of scale, also about the simultaneous improvement of the energy level of the innovation system, the global linkage ability and the ability to shape rules, which reflects a significant change in the construction logic., it shifts from promoting the agglomeration of elements to promoting the coordination of the system, paying more attention to the systematic integration, functional division and coordinated operation of innovative resources the region, focusing on improving the overall innovation efficiency. Second, it shifts from improving scientific research capabilities to improving comprehensive innovation capabilities, paying more attention to the comprehensive performance of the centers in terms of original innovation, scientific and technological achievements transformation, industrial promotion and global influence. Third, it shifts from focusing on urban competition to highlighting national strategy, guiding regional different development effectively through overall scientific and technological innovation layout at the urban agglomeration level, and enhancing the overall security and efficiency of the national innovation system.
Accordingly in the process of construction, three important orientations should be clarified. First, improve the comprehensive competitiveness by taking urban agglomerations as the basic unit, and build a multinode collaborative and functionally complementary innovation network by coordinating innovation resources in a larger spatial scope. Second, enhance the international discourse power by improving the ability of original innovation and the source power disruptive technologies, and strive to continuously output original innovative achievements and key technologies of global significance. Third, enhance the global linkage ability by steadily expanding institutional opening up, deeply embed the innovation system into the global scientific and technological innovation network, and improve influence in cooperation and gain initiative in competition.
Take practical measures to address challenges
The expanded international center for scientific and technological innovation has an important mission, which is to form source advantage in key core technologies and enhance its leadership in international scientific and technological cooperation and rule-making. At present, the construction of the three centers still faces some challenges.
In terms of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the intermediate links from basic research to industrialization are still weak, the transformation of original innovation advantages into industrial competitive is insufficient, the institutional cost of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated innovation is still high, and a highly integrated innovation community has not yet been formed. In terms the Yangtze River Delta, there are still shortcomings in terms of breakthroughs in basic theory and the source of disruptive technologies, and its leadership in the global scientific and technological frontier to be strengthened. The division of labor in the innovation chain within the region is not yet clear, and there is still room for improvement in terms of division of labor and cooperation and integration in key links of the innovation chain. In terms of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the basic research and original innovation capabilities are weak, the long-term and stable nature of scientific research investment is lacking, and the sustainability of high-end original innovation achievements supply needs to be strengthened. The special conditions ofone country, two systems, three customs areas, and three currencies" lead to institutional differences in legal systems, scientific research funding, tax policies, talent management, etc., whichively affects the overall innovation efficiency and collaborative depth of the region.
In the next stage, we should coordinate the construction of the three centers, clarify their differentiated positioning, form a joint force through the establishment of a cross-regional strategic synergy mechanism in major scientific and technological tasks, international cooperation platforms, and global scientific and technological governance. This promote China's international scientific and technological innovation center from "breaking through at a single point" to "leading the system"
The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region needs to enhance its global innovation influence by strengthening original innovation. By relying the intensive national strategic scientific and technological forces in Beijing, the region should coordinate the layout of national laboratories and major scientific and technological infrastructure in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and form a basic research system of "multiple support points and network synergy", and continuously output original innovative achievements with international influence in cutting-edge fields such as quantum information artificial intelligence, and life sciences; Expand the scope to narrow the "middle gap" in the transformation of achievements, and more layout the functions of pilot expansion and engineering verification inianjin and Hebei, so as to build a complete chain from original innovation to industrialization; Improve the level of internationalization of the coordinated innovation system in Beijing-Tjin-Hebei, and carry out deeper institutional innovations in the cross-regional use of scientific research funds, the flow of scientific researchers, and the distribution of benefits from transformation of intellectual property rights, benchmarking international rules and regulations, reducing the institutional cost of international scientific research cooperation and transnational R&D activities, and enhancing the attractiveness of high-end innovation resources.
The Yangtze River Delta needs to shape its international industrial innovation leadership with its system integration capability. While consolidating its advantageous industries such integrated circuits and biopharmaceuticals, it needs to increase its long-term investment in basic research and frontier exploration, promote deep integration of original innovation achievements with a strong manufacturing, and form globally leading technological routes and industry standards; Expand the scope to optimize the regional innovation division and synergy mechanism, coordinate the innovation layout of the four provinces and cities the Yangtze River Delta, clarify the functional orientation of different cities in the innovation chain, avoid homogeneous competition, and promote the formation of an efficient collaboration model of "RD in Shanghai, engineering in the surrounding areas, and large-scale manufacturing in the hinterland"; Improve the hub position in the global innovation network, rely on Shanghai as international financial center and international shipping center, develop technology finance and technology services, and enhance the ability to allocate global capital, technology, and talent
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area needs to strengthen international connectivity to amplify its advantages in open innovation.orts should be made to promote institutional innovation, align rules and mechanisms in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao in fields such as scientific research funding, tax incentives, intellectual protection and talent management, and explore the establishment of a special administrative area for cross-border scientific research cooperation and transformation of scientific and technological achievements; make up for shortcomings in basic research strengthen the supply capacity of original innovation, lay out high-level platforms for basic research and joint research institutions, guide more long-term original innovation scientific research projects to settle down and enhance the Greater Bay Area's capacity for innovation in cutting-edge technologies; give full play to Hong Kong's function as an international hub for science and technology innovation, on Hong Kong's advantages in international scientific research cooperation, technology finance and legal services, and promote the internationalization of domestic scientific and technological achievements through Hong Kong, so as to the visibility and influence of the Greater Bay Area in the global scientific and technological innovation system.
By coordinating the layout and division of labor of the three international science and technology innovation, China is likely to form a strategic pattern with multi-polar support and gradient connection in the global innovation map.