Abstract: Based on specialized division of labor, various regions in China have formed and developed distinctive industrial clusters according to local conditions, namely characteristic dominant industries, which are the important foundation and support for regional economic development. Practice has proven that developing characteristic industrial clusters is an important relief measure for the central and western regions. It can not only attract industrial transfer and resist the risks of regional political and economic conflicts in the context of global industrial and supply chains restructuring, but also use new technologies intensively to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and achieve high-quality development, especially through intelligent technologies. At present, characteristic industrial clusters in the central and western regions of China are facing difficulties and challenges in their development, such as excessive dependence on resource endowments, low enterprise quality, lack of innovation drive, and excessive reliance on external circulation. In the future, systematic economic policies should be formulated at the aspects of market competition, technological innovation, organizational governance, and talent mobility to promote the transformation and upgrading of characteristic industrial clusters in the central and western regions.
