Urban technological catch-up in post-reform China amidst centralized resource constraints: The case of biotechnology in Guangzhou

Amid rapid changes in geopolitical contexts and technological conditions, recent studies on technological catch-up have increasingly shifted their focus from neoliberal international cooperation to domestic state restructuring. In the context of post-reform China, while the pivotal role of the state in facilitating technological innovation has been widely recognized, much of the existing literature has placed emphasis on entrepreneurial local states, giving insufficient attention to the complex central–local state restructuring in relation to resource constraints and mobilization. This study adopts a longitudinal and evolutionary perspective to examine the biotechnological catch-up process and dynamics in Guangzhou, with a particular focus on how resource constraints at the central level and resource mobilization at the local level have interacted to shape the city’s catch-up path. The findings show that Guangzhou’s biotechnological catch-up process is shaped not only by local entrepreneurial efforts, but more fundamentally, by the structural constraints and enabling conditions imposed by centralized resource control with Chinese characteristics. By unpacking the internal dynamics of the Chinese state, this study contributes to political-economic analyses of innovation-oriented urban development. • Examine Guangzhou's biotechnological catch-up path since China's economic reforms • Unpack the role of central-local state restructuring in shaping biotechnological catch-up process • Centralized resource constraints with Chinese characteristics provide structural conditions • Focus on the interactions between centralized resource constraints and local resource mobilization