Due to the increasing demand for health care, identifying and evaluating the feasibility of local medical device innovation and production is an important guarantee for the long-term sustainable development of a national health system, especially for Asian countries/regions that are plagued by aging populations. This article analyzes the international trade data of 46 HS 6-digit medical device products exported from 49 countries from 1999 to 2019, and constructs a global medical device product space. Furthermore, the innovation potential and opportunities of potential medical device products in major Asian countries are evaluated by examining the dynamic relationship between the product distance and the acquisition of comparative advantages for medical device products based on an empirical model. The regression results suggest that a close product distance improves the feasibility of developing a new medical device product. The smaller the product distance is, the more likely it is to increase the diversity of the medical device products of a country by maintaining the existing comparative advantages and gaining potential comparative advantages. Furthermore, we follow the conclusions of the empirical model and analyze the product space evolution, and potential product distance and gains of major Asian medical device exporters. These conclusions may help entrepreneurs identify potential development directions and help government policy-makers formulate policies that are in line with national realities.

This study investigates the spatial structure and influencing factors of the innovation network in the advanced medical equipment and device manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). This industry is crucial to public health system resilience and regional industrial upgrading. Drawing on joint patent data from the IncoPat Global Patent Database covering the period 2005–2024, the study constructs innovation networks and conducts comparative analyses from both national and regional perspectives using social network analysis and geodetector methods. The findings reveal that: (1) At the national level, the innovation network has gradually expanded but remains sparse, characterized by a “core–periphery” structure dominated by Beijing and Shanghai. Urban participation in central and western China is limited. Short-term objectives often drive industry–university–research collaborations, and collaborations in basic research among academic institutions remain insufficient. (2) In contrast, the YRD region has formed a denser, polycentric network, with Shanghai as the primary hub and Nanjing and Suzhou as key secondary centers. Local enterprises exhibit strong incentives to engage in collaborative innovation within industry–university–research frameworks. (3) Geodetector analyses indicate that economic development, technological capability, and government policy support are major drivers of network formation, while infrastructure quality plays a crucial enabling role. The relative importance of these factors varies between national and regional levels. These results provide empirical evidence to inform regional innovation strategies and targeted policy design for strengthening collaboration in the advanced medical equipment industry.

As an underdeveloped and low-income region, the development of minority regions in Northwest China is crucial. As an important part of minority regions, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has insufficient endogenous power for stable economic development and high risk of returning to poverty. On the whole, the Ningxia county network shows a spatial pattern of high in the north and low in the south. However, there are great differences in the centrality of different factor flow networks. The factor connections between most counties are weak, and a close innovation network has not yet been formed. There is an obvious administrative clique structure, showing a certain degree of self-enclosure. The factor flows between counties are relatively uniform and greatly affected by geographic distance. From the perspective of integrated flow, the Ningxia county network presents a distinct core-periphery circle structure. Population size and GDP are the main factors affecting the spatial network. The policy implication of this study is that Ningxia Autonomous Prefecture should coordinate the planning of the region’s economy, technology, and transportation, so as to reduce the development gap between counties by enhancing the closeness of the county spatial association network, and ultimately realize the region’s high-quality development.

New energy vehicles (NEVs) can effectively reduce emissions and alleviate global climate problems, and are crucial to global sustainable development. China is the world's largest seller of NEVs, but charging stations have always been a major constraint to the development of NEVs. To clearly characterize the structural characteristics of an innovation association network of NEV charging stations, this study analyzes the structural characteristics of China's innovation association network of NEV charging stations with the patent data since 2007 in the Incopat Global Patent Database from the three perspectives of province, city and patent applicant using method of social network analysis (SNA). The findings show the following: (1) The innovation association network of NEV charging stations has been expanded constantly, with the association strength evidently increasing. (2) The innovation association network of NEV charging stations exhibits a typical core-periphery structure, with the quantity of nodes with high association strength varying little, and the quantity of nodes with low- and medium-association strengths exhibiting an evident increasing trend. (3) The effect of regional central cities is enhanced, with an evident group structure. There has been no information barrier caused by excessive small group formation in the province association network, whereas there are small group development trends in city and patent applicant cooperation networks. In addition, policy recommendations for further expanding technological innovation in charging stations to promote the development of the NEV industry are discussed based on the study results.

Introduction: Investigating the network of firms in a specific industry helps explain industrial location and urban functions and provides guidelines for promoting industrial restructuring and high-quality development.Methods: This study develops a network model for the relationship between firms and cities based on the data of listed Specialized, Refined, Distinctive, and Innovative (SRDI) medical device manufacturing firms in China to identify the spatial distribution and influencing factors of the urban network of such firms using network analysis and GeoDetector.Results and disscusion: Three conclusions are obtained from the study. First, the urban network of listed SRDI medical device manufacturing firms exhibits a sparse structure, with the density decreasing from east to west, and the out-degree presenting significant spatial concentration. Suzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are the core of the network power. The in-degree presents low spatial concentration. Clearly differentiated network functions are observed. Second, significant spatial differences are noted between high- and low-level linkage networks from the perspective of corporate governance structure. Third, economic level, labour costs, level of opening-up, talent base, and technological innovation capability have significant effects on the urban network of listed SRDI medical device manufacturing firms.