Abstract: The 21st century is an era of knowledge. In China, to increase the innovation capacity and accelerate the economic development, every province is now injecting a great deal of investment in scientific & technological resources (STR). But only when STR produces outputs can it increase the economic progress. Classifying the regional STR into three groups: national, regional, and enterprise scales, we quantify regional STR, and analyze its spatial distribution. Based on the evaluation of regional economic development, we study the relationship between regional economy and STR. As a whole, the STR has a positive correlation with the economy level. It is not the same in different provinces. So it remains to be solved on how to deploy scientific & technological resources according to economy level and how to make full use of investment to boost economy. There is a need for further research on the driving mechanism between STR and economy to make relevant policies.

Key words: correlation, economic evaluation, innovation capacity, scientific & technological resources