{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:12:54Z","timestamp":1760058774318,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,27]],"date-time":"2025-04-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745712000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["72334006","71974180"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["72334006","71974180"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Utilizing nearly 80,000 patent records and over 540,000 patent references from within China\u2019s banking industry, spanning from 2000 to July 2021, this paper employs network analysis and the main path method to examine the technological evolution of both Chinese and global banks. The contributions of this study encompass the comprehensive collection of 21 years of patent data, the introduction of a distinctive analytical framework for networks, and addressing a research gap in Chinese banking innovation. The research delves into the sources of innovation of China\u2019s banking industry, maps its development, and identifies cutting-edge technologies of the global banking system, with a specific emphasis on the burgeoning role of blockchain. Additionally, this paper presents a valuable list of recent global patents identified by the main path algorithm, serving as a valuable reference for governments and regulatory bodies worldwide.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems13050323","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,28]],"date-time":"2025-04-28T09:39:47Z","timestamp":1745833187000},"page":"323","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Unveiling the Technological Dynamics of Banking Systems: A Network Analysis of Chinese and Global Banking Innovation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-3359-6407","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chuhan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China"},{"name":"MOE Social Science Laboratory of Digital Economic Forecasts and Policy Simulation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiuting","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China"},{"name":"MOE Social Science Laboratory of Digital Economic Forecasts and Policy Simulation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"583","DOI":"10.1111\/poms.12035","article-title":"The roles of bank and trade credits: Theoretical analysis and empirical evidence","volume":"23","author":"Cai","year":"2014","journal-title":"Prod. Oper. Manag."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2205","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbankfin.2006.10.022","article-title":"Does IT investment improve bank performance? Evidence from Europe","volume":"31","author":"Beccalli","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Bank. Financ."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"149","article-title":"The Practical Operation of County Inclusive Financial Development: Taking Lankao County in Henan Province as an Example","volume":"1","author":"Su","year":"2018","journal-title":"Reform"},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"16","article-title":"Technology Finance, Industrial Structure Optimization and Regional Ecological Efficiency: Empirical Analysis Based on Spatial Econometric Model","volume":"40","author":"Hua","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Technol. Econ."},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"1","article-title":"Industrial Revolution, Financial Revolution, and Systemic Risk Governance","volume":"1","author":"Chen","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Financ. Res."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Bank for International Settlements Monetary and Economic Department (1999). The monetary and regulatory implications of changes in the banking industry. BIS Working Paper, BIS."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"European Commission (2020). Communication from the Commission to The European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic and Social Committee and The Committee of The Regions on a Digital Finance Strategy for the EU, European Commission."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1631","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbankfin.2005.09.009","article-title":"Benefits from a changing payment technology in European banking","volume":"30","author":"Humphrey","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Bank. Financ."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"277","DOI":"10.1016\/j.elerap.2009.12.003","article-title":"Adoption and effectiveness of electronic banking in Kenya","volume":"9","author":"Gikandi","year":"2010","journal-title":"Electron. Commer. Res. Appl."},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"160","article-title":"Internet Finance, Technology Spillover and Commercial Banks TFP","volume":"3","author":"Shen","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Financ. Res."},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"1401","article-title":"Measuring China\u2019s Digital Financial Inclusion: Index Compilation and Spatial Characteristics","volume":"19","author":"Guo","year":"2020","journal-title":"China Econ. Q."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101447","DOI":"10.1016\/j.intfin.2021.101447","article-title":"Fintech-based financial inclusion and bank risk-taking: Evidence from OIC countries","volume":"75","author":"Banna","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Int. Financ. Mark. Inst. Money"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101398","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pacfin.2020.101398","article-title":"Does Bank FinTech Reduce Credit Risk? Evidence from China","volume":"63","author":"Cheng","year":"2020","journal-title":"Pac.-Basin Financ. J."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1186\/s40854-017-0062-0","article-title":"The transition from traditional banking to mobile internet finance: An organizational innovation perspective\u2014A comparative study of Citibank and ICBC","volume":"3","author":"Chen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Financ. Innov."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"59","article-title":"Digital Economy Development and Firms\u2019 Markup: Theoretical Mechanisms and Empirical Facts","volume":"11","author":"Bai","year":"2021","journal-title":"China Ind. Econ."},{"key":"ref_16","first-page":"1937","article-title":"Digital Transformation of Commercial Banks in China: Measurement, Progress and Impact","volume":"22","author":"Xie","year":"2022","journal-title":"China Econ. Q."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"35","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bushor.2017.09.003","article-title":"Fintech: Ecosystem, business models, investment decisions, and challenges","volume":"61","author":"Lee","year":"2018","journal-title":"Bus. Horiz."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"257","DOI":"10.1080\/13563467.2021.1952556","article-title":"Collaboration, Adaptation, or Disruption? Wall Street, Fintech and Corporate Bond Trading","volume":"27","author":"Macartney","year":"2022","journal-title":"New Polit. Econ."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"859","DOI":"10.1111\/padm.12731","article-title":"The politics of FinTech: Technology, regulation, and disruption in UK and German retail banking","volume":"99","author":"Hodson","year":"2021","journal-title":"Public Admin."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100865","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jfs.2020.100836","article-title":"Fintech: What\u2019s old, what\u2019s new?","volume":"53","author":"Boot","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Financ. Stab."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jfs.2015.12.007","article-title":"Does Basel Compliance Matter for Bank Performance?","volume":"23","author":"Ayadi","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Financ. Stab."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1504\/IJTM.2021.115761","article-title":"A review of FinTech research","volume":"86","author":"Takeda","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Technol. Manag."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1353\/mcb.2003.0009","article-title":"The economic effects of technological progress: Evidence from the banking industry","volume":"35","author":"Berger","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Money Credit. Bank."},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"1271","article-title":"The evolution of Fintech: A new post-crisis paradigm","volume":"47","author":"Arner","year":"2015","journal-title":"Geo. J. Int\u2019l L."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1854","DOI":"10.1093\/rfs\/hhz018","article-title":"The role of technology in mortgage lending","volume":"32","author":"Fuster","year":"2019","journal-title":"Rev. Financ. Stud."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1186\/s40854-016-0034-9","article-title":"Blockchain application and outlook in the banking industry","volume":"2","author":"Guo","year":"2016","journal-title":"Financ. Innov."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jaffe, A.B., and Trajtenberg, M. (2002). Patents, Citations, and Innovations: A Window on the Knowledge Economy, MIT Press.","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/5263.001.0001"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"170","DOI":"10.1016\/j.techfore.2013.07.004","article-title":"Patent keyword network analysis for improving technology development efficiency","volume":"83","author":"Choi","year":"2014","journal-title":"Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change"},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"Doreian, P. (1989). Network autocorrelation models: Problems and prospects. Spatial Statistics: Past, Present, Future, Institute of Mathematical Geography."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1142\/S0219525907000945","article-title":"Mapping technological trajectories as patent citation networks: A study on the history of fuel cell research","volume":"10","author":"Verspagen","year":"2007","journal-title":"Adv. Complex Syst."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1948","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.20903","article-title":"Main-path analysis and path-dependent transitions in HistCite (TM)-based historiograms","volume":"59","author":"Leydesdorff","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"140","article-title":"Research Review on the Main Path Analysis of Patent Citation Networks","volume":"60","author":"Zhang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Libr. Inf. Serv."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100977","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joi.2019.100977","article-title":"Forward search path count as an alternative indirect citation impact indicator","volume":"13","author":"Jiang","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Informetr."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1798","DOI":"10.1016\/j.econmod.2012.05.028","article-title":"Technology Gaps in European Banking: Put the Blame on Inputs or Outputs?","volume":"29","author":"Kontolaimou","year":"2012","journal-title":"Econ. Model."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jeconom.2014.04.012","article-title":"On the network topology of variance decompositions: Measuring the connectedness of financial firms","volume":"182","author":"Diebold","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Econom."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1016\/0378-8733(89)90017-8","article-title":"Connectivity in a citation network: The development of DNA theory","volume":"11","author":"Hummon","year":"1989","journal-title":"Soc. Netw."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eneco.2019.104564","article-title":"The dynamic dependence of fossil energy, investor sentiment and renewable energy stock markets","volume":"84","author":"Song","year":"2019","journal-title":"Energy Econ."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"535","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jfineco.2011.12.010","article-title":"Econometric measures of connectedness and systemic risk in the finance and insurance sectors","volume":"104","author":"Billio","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Financ. Econ."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"945","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejor.2016.06.052","article-title":"Information diffusion, cluster formation and entropy-based network dynamics in equity and commodity markets","volume":"256","author":"Bekiros","year":"2017","journal-title":"Eur. J. Oper. Res."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"644","DOI":"10.1016\/j.techfore.2018.01.036","article-title":"Early identification of important patents: Design and validation of citation network metrics","volume":"146","author":"Mariani","year":"2019","journal-title":"Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8","DOI":"10.1186\/s40294-016-0017-8","article-title":"Analysis and visualization of large networks with program package Pajek","volume":"4","author":"Mrvar","year":"2016","journal-title":"Complex Adapt. Syst. Model."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"528","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.21692","article-title":"An integrated approach for main path analysis: Development of the Hirsch index as an example","volume":"63","author":"Liu","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gao, W., Hatcher, W.G., and Yu, W. (August, January 30). A survey of blockchain: Techniques, applications, and challenges. Proceedings of the 2018 27th International Conference on Computer Communication and Networks (ICCCN), Hangzhou, China.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICCCN.2018.8487348"},{"key":"ref_44","first-page":"138","article-title":"The petrometric analysis of Chinese and American banks\u2019 patents and study on technology innovation strategy under the comparative perspective","volume":"35","author":"Ding","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sci. Res. Manag."},{"key":"ref_45","first-page":"73","article-title":"New China\u2019s 70-Year Banking System Construction: Ideology Evolution and Theory Innovation","volume":"45","author":"Xin","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Financ. Econ."},{"key":"ref_46","first-page":"15","article-title":"The 70 Years of China Banking Industry: Brief History, Main Features and Historical Experience","volume":"35","author":"Wang","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Manag. World"},{"key":"ref_47","unstructured":"Schwab, K. (2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum."},{"key":"ref_48","unstructured":"European Patent Office (2017). Patents and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The Inventions Behind Digital Transformation, EPO."},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"International Monetary Fund (2019). Fintech: The Experience So Far, International Monetary Fund. IMF Policy Papers."},{"key":"ref_50","first-page":"33","article-title":"Technological Innovation and Banking Industry Development: Evolution Course and Future Prospects","volume":"12","author":"Yang","year":"2020","journal-title":"New Financ."},{"key":"ref_51","first-page":"76","article-title":"The operation, impact, and inspiration of the first batch of virtual banks in Hong Kong, China","volume":"1","author":"Jiao","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. Financ."},{"key":"ref_52","unstructured":"Schmoch, U. (2008). Concept of a Technology Classification for Country Comparisons: Final Report to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1080\/10438590801969073","article-title":"Mapping technological trajectories as patent citation networks: An application to data communication standards","volume":"18","author":"Fontana","year":"2009","journal-title":"Econ. Innov. New Tech."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"414","DOI":"10.1016\/j.respol.2011.10.012","article-title":"An emerging paradigm or just another trajectory? Understanding the nature of technological changes using engineering heuristics in the telecommunications switching industry","volume":"41","author":"Martinelli","year":"2012","journal-title":"Res. Policy."},{"key":"ref_55","first-page":"1311","article-title":"Research on identification of technological evolution path based on patent citation network: Taking solar photovoltaic panels technology as an example","volume":"29","author":"Yang","year":"2011","journal-title":"Studies Sci. Sci."}],"container-title":["Systems"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-8954\/13\/5\/323\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T17:22:32Z","timestamp":1760030552000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-8954\/13\/5\/323"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,27]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5]]}},"alternative-id":["systems13050323"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/systems13050323","relation":{},"ISSN":["2079-8954"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2079-8954"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,27]]}}}