Innovative provinces are aspects of the greater system of innovative countries. China can derive experience and evidence from developed countries in creating an innovative country. The building of innovative provinces is new in theory and practice, and no relevant experience can be used for reference by China’s provincial-level administrative regions in this field. Powerful, innovative research is needed, therefore, to provide intellectual support for this task. We must minimally answer four questions in theory and practice to construct innovative provinces. 1. What is the relationship between the construction of innovative provinces and that of an innovative country? Is it possible for one provincial-level administrative region to be built into an innovative province first? 2. What are the fundamental characteristics of an innovative province? 3. How do we promote the construction of innovative provinces in the features of strategic orientation and specific policies? 4. How do innovative provinces operate? The Construction of Innovative Provinces and Jiangsu’s Explorations, co-authored by Xu Nanping, Hong Yinxing, and Liu Zhibiao, aims to offer qualitative and quantitative answers to the aforementioned questions.
