As typical innovation organizations, the structure and efficiency of cooperation among universities’ innovation behaviors are important influencing factors for regional innovation sustainable development. In 2019, the Chinese government promulgated the “Outline of the Development Plan of The Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Great Bay Area”, which directly promotes a sustainable cooperation network of universities in the Great Bay Area. This study used UCINET to visualize the cooperation network of universities in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao based on the cooperation data generated by 35 universities in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Great Bay Area, jointly establishing 37 professional alliances that developed 888 cooperation ties from 2017 to 2022. The results show that the current cooperative network density of universities in the Great Bay Area is high (density = 0.746), but the cohesion trend is not significant (network centralization = 26.92%); a clear circle structure has been formed. The network exhibits a narrow shape at both ends and widens in the middle; the higher the hierarchical position of universities in the region, the more likely they are to enter the core cooperation network and establish more cooperation relationships. Universities in the marginal circles find it especially difficult to initiate cooperative relationships due to their disadvantageous position in terms of limited resources and a lack of administrative intervention. The current cooperation situation still has room for expansion. © 2023 by the authors.

Over the past decades, the development of knowledge-based and innovation-led economy has gained the attention of higher education (HE) institutions. The Quadruple Helix Model of the relations amongst universities, industries, government and society provides a general framework for systematically investigating the dynamics of innovation amongst these agents. However, knowledge about their influence on cross-boundary cities is limited. The ways in which HE institutions bridge different innovation systems also remain unknown. This study thus examines the innovation systems of two neighbouring cities along the border, namely, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and their multidirectional innovation cooperation. Research findings suggest that the two innovation systems differ in terms of the unequal role of the agents. The systems seem mutually complementary in terms of HE capacity and industrial composition, and cross-boundary cooperation in HE sectors currently occurs through various means. This study sheds light on the development of and cooperation between cross-border innovation systems. Copyright ©Routledge.