Abstract:Based on the patent data of intelligent manufacturing equipment cooperation in China from 2001 to 2020, the patent cooperation network was constructed by using social network analysis method to reveal the main body and spatial evolution of the patent cooperation network. The results show that :(1) the scale of intelligent manufacturing equipment patent cooperation network is gradually expanding. The network has strong knowledge exchange and information transmission capacity, but the transmission efficiency is low. Some innovation subjects have established solid cooperation relationship, and the patent cooperation network is becoming complex and community. (2) In different industrial life cycles, there are great differences in the evolution of patent cooperation network subjects of intelligent manufacturing equipment, and present a diversified cooperative development. At the present stage, state Grid Corporation and other power enterprises and research institutions have become the core of promoting the development of intelligent manufacturing equipment industry. (3) The proportion of intra-regional patent cooperation is increasing on the whole, and the proportion of intra-regional patent cooperation is higher in Guangdong and Shanghai. The influence of regional boundaries on patent cooperation is gradually enhanced. (4) In the inter-regional patent cooperation network, Beijing is in the core position of trans-regional cooperation, and its position is constantly consolidated; Beijing, Jiangsu and Guangdong play the role of "high importance-high coordination", not only as the center of information exchange, but also as a bridge between other regions. The implications of the study are as follows: scientific and technological innovation resources should be rationally allocated to ensure the balanced development of cooperative innovation of intelligent manufacturing equipment industry in various regions, developing a reasonable spatial layout of domestic intelligent manufacturing equipment industry.