Promoting sustainable and high‐quality economic development in China via regional innovation poles

Using a panel data set comprising 284 prefecture‐level and above cities in China during 2005–2018, this study develops a theoretical mechanism harnessing the spatial Durbin model (SDM) to accumulate evidence and explain how innovation affects China's economic growth. It is found that regional economic growth is facilitated by local innovation activities as well as the absorption capacity of innovation and technology spilled over from other regions. This study also identifies 12 regional innovation poles across the country, which are found to have played a significant role in promoting urban economic development within a physical distance range of 150 km of a given region. This finding attests to the radiation effect from regional innovation poles in cultivating more such poles for China, to promote sustainable high‐quality economic growth, suggesting a route for China to avoid the curse of the middle‐income trap.