What are behind the science parks and business incubators in China?

The Chinese government has been supporting the formation and development of science and technology industrial parks (STIPs) and business incubators (STBIs) in China since the late 1980s by providing favorable policy treatments with the aim of promoting the development of new technology-oriented firms, facilitating the technology transfer, and revitalizing the regional economy. However, the STIPs and STBIs in China have yet to graduate from the quantity-expansion phase and enter the quality-improvement phase of their development. This study finds that their further development can be achieved by facilitating the formulation of close linkages among firms in the STIPs and STBIs, strengthening technology transfer between the industrial sector and academic institutions, enhancing infrastructural and business-value-adding services to their tenant firms, attracting more foreign investment with advanced technologies to their neighborhood, and encouraging the R&D investment of new and high technology firms.