Abstract: The paper focus on the development evaluation of the scientific and technological innovation (STI) in counties of Zhejiang Province and its regional concentration. A evaluation system with multiple indicators was established. Using the indicators and Principal Component Analysis method, the study evaluated the development level of STI for 90 counties in Zhejiang Province from 2009 to 2012. Furthermore, the regional concentration of STI in Zhejiang, and among its counties were assessed by the Moran’s Index analysis. The result showed: (1) the development of STI in Zhejiang has a clear pattern which can be described as “The Northeast Rises, and The Southwest Falls”. In other words, the northeastern region of Zhejiang is the highly-developed zone of STI, while the southwestern is less-developed; (2) the general level of STI is stable and constant during the four years (3) the major difference between the developed and the less-developed region is the innovative organization. The results has some implications for the development of innovation at county scale.

Key words: scientific &, technological innovations (STI), spatial clustering, county-level evaluation, empirical study in Zhejiang Province