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Engineering the digital technology sphere: China's new technology diplomacy and telecom ecosystem niche construction

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  • Lin, Yujun
  • Lin, Yuqi
  • Qiu, Ling
  • Liu, Yiming
  • Li, Ruoquan
  • Xu, Jiayi

Abstract

The global telecommunications sector is undergoing a structural shift from modular, standards-based competition toward competing digital ecosystems that integrate network infrastructure, cloud platforms, technical standards, and governance arrangements.This article applies Niche Construction Theory (NCT) as an exploratory heuristic lens to examine China's new technology diplomacy. It analyzes how material, institutional, and cognitive modalities interact through the mechanisms of perturbation, relocation and choice, and ecosystem engineering to generate ecological inheritance and path-dependent legacies within the global digital technology sphere. Drawing on empirical analysis of infrastructure deployment, international standard-setting participation, and capacity-building initiatives, the study demonstrates how these modalities produce durable ecosystem integration. The findings reveal processual mechanisms of influence that operate without formal hierarchy or overt coercion, while fostering co-evolutionary dynamics, partner-state agency, and hybrid governance arrangements in a multi-ecosystem environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Lin, Yujun & Lin, Yuqi & Qiu, Ling & Liu, Yiming & Li, Ruoquan & Xu, Jiayi, 2026. "Engineering the digital technology sphere: China's new technology diplomacy and telecom ecosystem niche construction," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:50:y:2026:i:7:s0308596126000935
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2026.103243
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