Technological catch-up and innovations of China's offshore oil and gas equipment-manufacturing industry: The role of the supply chain and government policy

China's offshore oil and gas equipment-manufacturing industry has experienced phenomenal technological catch-up, followed by the development of capacity in both independent innovation and the relevant industrial supply chain. This study aims to reveal the mechanisms behind this phenomenon. Specifically, this study focuses on (1) applying a new theoretical framework, known as the inverted S-curve theory, to the technological catch-up and innovation of the above-mentioned industry; (2) developing the related supply chains for the industry; and (3) exploring the roles the government played when implementing regulations and policies to facilitate the catch-up. An empirical model is derived accordingly to quantitatively determine the contribution of driving factors for the catching up process of the industry in China. The findings suggest that policy alone appears to be a substantial factor. In particular, policies that promote the capacities of the core components of the supply chain are the most effective. The case study confirms such an observation and presents more details of the dynamic catching-up process of the offshore oil and gas equipment-manufacturing industry.The discussion is thus extended to include additional and influential factors that could not be included in the empirical model due to the lack of data, such as financing and entrepreneurship.