Abstract:Regional capabilities are the basis for building a national innovation system with Chinese characteristics. Analyzing the temporal and spatial evolution of regional innovation capabilities plays an important role in enhancing regional and national innovation capabilities. Based on the analysis results of the "China Regional Innovation Capability Evaluation Report", this paper analyzes the basic pattern, temporal and spatial evolution, problems and challenges, and future strategic choices of China’s regional innovation capabilities. The results show that China has gradually formed an innovative development pattern led by Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu and Shanghai. The overall innovation capability gap between regions tends to converge. At this stage, China is still facing problems such as the lack of coordination of regional innovation, the unsynchronized development of innovation capabilities, and the imbalance of innovation capabilities shifted from "east-west" to "north-south". In the future, provinces should improve regional innovation capabilities by improving regional innovation ecosystems, seizing opportunities in the digital economy, optimizing the business environment, and creating innovative growth poles.