Considering the fundamental link between government and market,industrial associations occupy a significant position in the developmental history of domestic and foreign industries and enterprises.However,the attention they have received from the national academic community has been insufficient.Based on manually curated data of prefecture-level municipal industrial associations matched with Chinese industrial enterprises and patent databases from 1998 to 2013,this paper empirically investigates the impact of the establishment of prefecture-level municipal industrial associations on the technological innovation of enterprises in the industry using a staggered difference-in-differences(DID)model.The study's findings indicate that the establishment of industrial associations leads to a 1.5%increase in patent applications by enterprises within the industry.Industrial associations facilitate business innovation through internal platform services,business-to-business innovation collaboration and external channels such as financing and government support.Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the innovation effects of industrial associations are predominantly concentrated among state-owned enterprises,large corporations and high-tech firms.On the other hand,industrial associations also contribute to enhancing the quality of business innovation.This study provides new insights to enrich the study on industrial associations and enhance the overall efficiency of the innovation system in China from a governance of social organisations perspective.