Abstract: Against the backdrop of intensifying geopolitical rivalry and competition over critical core technologies, global industrial chain governance has shifted from prioritizing efficiency to placing equal emphasis on security and resilience. This has created a structural mismatch between the cross-regional organizational characteristics of industrial chain networks and China's traditional governance model, which is defined by administrative boundaries. As an embedded governance mechanism, "chain leader–chain manager" collaborative governance promotes deep coupling between government and the market by embedding administrative coordination functions into industrial chain networks, thereby helping to enhance industrial chain security and resilience and build a modern industrial system. This mechanism constructs a framework for collaborative industrial chain governance at three levels: At the governance structure level, it achieves the re-embedding of authority and responsibility through a restructuring of scales, with the "chain leader" assuming industrial organizational functions based on its technical capabilities and network centrality, while the "chain manager" handles cross-departmental coordination and the provision of public goods; at the governance process level, it establishes a mechanism for cross-entity information integration and collaborative decision-making through the chain leader's information aggregation and the chain manager's policy coordination; At the governance function level, resource allocation shifts from a project-oriented approach to a chain-based allocation, with a focus on areas that the market struggles to effectively cover, such as generic technologies and pilot testing and validation. The embedding model of this mechanism varies depending on the industrial context and the type of dominant coordination imbalance: in technology-intensive industries such as integrated circuits, high-end equipment, and aerospace, a strategic breakthrough-oriented embedding model is adopted, where the chain leader identifies technology roadmaps and organizes innovation, while the chain coordinator focuses on risk absorption and the coordination of strategic resources; In industries characterized by network externalities and platform hub features—such as new energy, intelligent connected vehicles, and the digital economy—an "ecosystem cultivation" embedded model is adopted, where the chain leader performs industrial ecosystem organization and network coordination functions, while the chain manager focuses on the provision of public platforms and the establishment of rules; In manufacturing sectors with cross-regional, multi-tiered division of labor—such as automotive manufacturing, high-end equipment, and electronic information—a supply chain resilience-oriented embedding model is adopted, where the chain leader is responsible for risk detection and supply chain coordination, while the chain manager leads cross-regional coordination and ensures the availability of production factors. The effectiveness of this mechanism depends on a dynamic equilibrium between administrative embedding and market autonomy: if embedding exceeds appropriate limits, the structural level will face risks of blurred boundaries between authority and responsibility and local protectionism; the process level will face risks of information structure convergence and cognitive dependence; and the functional level will face risks of resource allocation skewed toward existing dominant entities and the intensification of network stratification effects. Therefore, administrative boundaries should be constrained through limited embedding and dynamic exit mechanisms; information concentration should be reduced through multi-source information input and third-party verification mechanisms; and the openness and competitiveness of resource allocation should be enhanced through competition-neutral public goods supply rules and mechanisms for equitable access to production factors.
