Technology innovation and entrepreneurial state: the development of China's high-speed rail industry

China proactively promotes indigenous technology innovation towards developing an innovation-based economy. This contradicts the developmental state literature that puts emphasis on technology imitation. Drawn from the strategic entrepreneurship perspective, this article explores the role of the government in China's technology innovation process. Carrying out a case study in the high-speed rail (HSR) industry, it suggests that it is best to understand the Chinese government as an entrepreneur in moving China's HSR industry towards technology innovation-driven development, through three dimensions of state-led strategic entrepreneurship: alertness to opportunities, resource exploration and consolidation, and strategic learning. This article highlights the importance of strategic entrepreneurship to the government in an emerging economy context and contributes to the literature by building a conceptual framework of ‘entrepreneurial state’.