Abstract:  The Chinese-style technological innovation is not only the primary driving force for promoting high-quality development in China, but also a core element for realizing the Chinese-style modernization. Sino-foreign joint ventures, as the important outcome of China′s rational utilization of foreign investment and deepening of Reform and Opening-up, play a significant role in the Chinese-style technological innovation. By systematically combing the specific contextual background of technology innovation in Sino-foreign joint ventures within the context of China′s modernization development and the evolution logic of China′s macro policies, this paper explored the characteristics, patterns, and evolutionary path of their technological innovation. The study showed that: (1) The technological innovation of Sino-foreign joint ventures has gone through three stages: the embryonic stage, i.e. “market for technology” stage (1978-late 20th century), the exploration stage, i.e. the technology introduction, assimilation, absorption and re-innovation stage (late 20th century-2017), and the development stage, i.e. the independent technology innovation stage (2017-present). Significant changes have occurred in the innovation patterns, dominance of key and core technologies, and the strength of technological innovation capabilities in each stage; (2) The technological innovation of Sino-foreign joint ventures has experienced a spiral upward trajectory characterized by progress, twists and cycles; (3) The dynamic alignment between the reality of technological innovation and the evolution logic of macro policies has driven the transition of technological innovation stages in Sino-foreign joint ventures, and eventually paving a Chinese-style technological innovation path that is different from such countries as the United States, Japan, and South Korea. This study will provide a reference for understanding the intrinsic logic of dynamic evolution of Chinese-style technological innovation, an insight for the development direction of Chinese-style innovation theory research, and will be of great significance for an in-depth understanding of China′s high-quality development and Chinese path to modernization.

Key words: Sino-foreign joint venture, Chinese-style technological innovation, Chinese-style modernization, evolutionary path