Abstract: Deep integration of the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain is an important path for the modern industrial system. As a “test field” for high-level opening up, free trade zones provide a unique environment for the integration of the “four chains” through policy innovation and flexible strategies. Based on an RDD empirical analysis of 31 provinces across China from 2010 to 2022, this paper finds that the construction of free trade zones significantly promotes the growth of the tertiary industry, accelerates the integration of the industrial chain and the innovation chain, and retards the rise of foreign investment and innovation levels, with a more significant response from the talent chain. Although the initial stage of construction faces challenges of enterprise adjustment, the long-term effects are significant, and regional differences are obvious. This study not only expands the policy application scenarios of the four-chain integration theory, but also provides an effective reference for free trade zones to formulate precise development strategies.

Key words: four-chain integration, four-helix theory, regression discontinuity design, free trade zone