Abstract:     “The trap of late development” is an innovation challenge commonly faced by late-developing countries. Most developing countries are often trapped in the dilemma of “technology generation gap”, but China, as a typical late-developing industrial country, successfully explored an innovation path suitable for its own development. Unlike previous fragmented research that only explored the historical process or innovation model of Chinese-style innovation, this study explored the historical rules, practical experiences, and theoretical bases for the evolution of the Chinese-style innovation path from the perspective of the unity of historical logic, practical logic, and theoretical logic, explored the theoretical connotation of “Chinese-style innovation” and constructed a systematic research framework, thereby unraveling the mystery of China′s “trap of late development”.The results of this study found that: (1) under the historical logic, this study, based on the synergistic relationship between institutional innovation and sci-tech innovation, systematically sorted out the historical process of Chinese-style innovation through “demand for sci-tech innovation drives institutional innovation”, “sci-tech innovation serves economic institutional innovation”, “institutional innovation opens up a new path for sci-tech innovation” and “institutional innovation guarantees the road to scientific and technological power”. (2) Under the practical logic, this study analyzed the practical experience of the path evolution of Chinese innovation from three aspects: the practical direction, the practical path and the practical guarantee. Specifically, the practical direction includes the scientific and technological direction with the goal of “tackling major tasks” and the institutional direction with the goal of “common prosperity”; the practical path of Chinese-style innovation follows the sci-tech innovation path of “‘from 1 to N’ surrounds ‘from 0 to 1’” and the institutional innovation path of “‘moving steadily gradually’ shifting to ‘top-level design’”; Chinese-style innovation takes the national system as an institutional guarantee, and insists on the rule of law as a legal guarantee. (3) Under the theoretical logic, this study proposed that the theoretical roots of Chinese-style innovation are “science and technology is productivity” and “Marxist view of the masses”, and analyzed the theoretical discourse system of Chinese-style innovation. Specifically, “the two-wheel drive innovation development concept” has corrected the traditional concept of emphasizing technology over system in the process of leap-forward development; “the view of comprehensively deepening reform and innovation” and “the view of leading national strategic innovation” will provide theoretical guidance for China to avoid falling into such the trap of late development as “speed trap”, “growth trap” and “imitation trap” in the process of catching up.The policy implications include: while innovation and development are undergoing in the future in China, there is a necessity of further exerting the government′s regulatory role and promote a better integration of effective government and efficient markets. It is still necessary to constantly leverage the institutional advantages that the new-type system of nationwide mobilization for pooling all resources to accomplish major tasks, gather scientific and technological strength and innovative resources to break bottleneck in key core technologies. In addition, in the new round of technological and industrial revolutions, making full use of a dual driving role in sci-tech and institutional innovation, being beware of the new “traps” brought by digital technology, and taking a lead in the high-quality development of the national innovation system in the digital economy era are sustainable in significance.

Key words: trap of late development, Chinese-style innovation, historical logic, practical logic, theoretical logic