Dynamic Evolution of Technical Achievement in China’s Provinces

The Technical Achievement Index (TAI) is one way of assessing the technical achievement of regions such as countries, continents, and historical periods. In our study, the entropy weight method (EWM) was employed to compute the weighting of TAI indicators and to create the provincial TAI from 2010 to 2020 using updated variables and datasets. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time the provincial TAI has been calculated. The key findings suggested that the dissemination of recent inventions was at the top, while the creation of technology was at the bottom of the four TAI dimensions. The TAI in the Eastern Region of China was rated second, but it has been gradually expanding since 2014. the TAI in the Northeast region of China has declined significantly since 2017 which needs to give more special attention. Provincial TAI rankings included two provinces as leaders, four provinces as prospective leaders, fourteen provinces as active adopters, and eleven provinces as marginalized in China. This study provides evidence for China’s TAI’s unequal and inadequate development and gives helpful information for policymakers to establish appropriate strategies for improving innovative provinces.