Abstract: On the basis of the theory of technological trajectories, this paper measures the degree of participation and the embedding position of China in the global innovation value chains with the help of the Worldwide Patent Statistical Database. It also studies the specific performance of Chinese enterprises which embed themselves in the global innovation value chains in the“going out”mode or in the“bringing in”mode with specific cases. The findings reveal that Chinese enterprises are locked in the non-core technology fields and low-end links in the international labor-division system with a degree of participation of 47.30% in the global innovation value chains, which is lower than that of USA, Japan, Germany, France and other major world economies. There still exist some gaps between the embedding position of Chinese enterprises and that of the developed countries. In the“going out”mode, Chinese enterprises cannot fully grasp the initiative of development, while in the“bringing in”mode, Chinese enterprises are usually locked at the lower-end links. The blockage encountered by Chinese enterprises in the participation of the global circulation of innovation is rooted in the lacking of the all-round technical innovation with international competitiveness in domestic innovation field. It is necessary to take the domestic circulation as the main body and the concept of domestic and international double-circulation new development pattern as the guidance, so as to create an unblocked, efficient and independent domestic cycle in the field of innovation for the improvement of international competitiveness of Chinese creation. On this basis, the initiative of opening to the outside world can be mastered to achieve“bringing in”and“going out”at a higher level.

Key words: global innovation value chains, technological trajectories, main path analysis, embedding position