Discussions on Innovation Opportunities in China
Quan Bo
First Secretary, Science and Technology Office
Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands
quanb@most.cn
30 May 2012
1. Why Is China Thirsty for Innovation?
- Most of conventional and less sophisticated technologies
have been imported and used.
- “World Workshop” equipped with above can no longer sustained the
China’s economy.
- Higher labor cost, stricter regulation, etc. in China facilitate transfer of
traditional manufacturing industry to other developing countries.
- Demographic momentum is lost. The focus is life quality.
2. Goal, Targets and Plan
2.1 Goal
A national innovation system will be in its initial form clear in functions, rational
in structure, good in interaction, and efficient in performance, to turn the nation
into an innovation-driven one.
2.2 Some targets for S & T development by 2015
R & D % in GDP: from current 1.75 to 2.2 ($111.2 billion for 2010)
R & D human input per 1,000 employed persons: from 3.3 to 4.3;
World ranking of citation of international science paper: from No. 8 to No. 5;
No. of invention patents per 1,000 persons: from 0.17 to 0.33;
% of added value from high-tech industry in the added value of manufacturing
industry: from 13 to 17; and
% of citizens of essential science qualifications: from 3.27 to 5.
2.3 Plan for development of new industries
- Energy-saving and environment protection;
- New generation of information technology;
- Bio-industry;
- Manufacturing of high end equipment;
- New energy;
- New material; and
- New energy powered automobile.
China seems interested in everything.
3. Collaborative Innovation or Indigenous Innovation?
3.1 Collaborative innovation is the main stream
- For the past 170 years, China has been a student to learn Western or modern
science and technology;
- the country is beginning to build an innovation-driven society, and will not
materialize it without cooperation with other countries; and
- no country is able to conduct a door-closing innovation strategy now.
3.2 Indigenous innovation is an important ingredient of China’s national
innovation strategy
- Current high reliance on technology input from developed countries;
- No country can be advanced without indigenous innovation, especially for China;
- Core technology or core competitiveness can not be sold, and China has not yet
been permitted to buy so-called sensitive technologies from Western countries; and
- China is contributing more and more knowledge and know-how to the world
through conducting indigenous innovation.
3.3 Recent example: R & D areas for concentrated efforts in the 11th 5-year Plan
period:
- Core electronic devices and high end general chips and basic software products;
- Manufacturing equipment and complete sets of process for super scale integrated
circuit;
- New generation of wireless broadband movable communication network;
-Advanced digital controlled machine tool and basic manufacturing equipment;
- Development of large scale oil/gas field and coal bed gas;
- Nuclear power station with advanced large water pressure reactor and high
temperature and gas cooling reactor;
- Control and treatment of pollution in water bodies;
- Culture of new GM biologic varieties;
- Invention of major new medicine;
- Prevention of AIDS, virus hepatitis and other infectious diseases; and
- Large airplane manufacturing.
3.4 Examples of breakthroughs: manned spacecraft, super computer, high-speed
train, stem cell, etc.
4. Is China Available for Building an Innovation-driven Society?
4.1 Positive aspects
- Basic resources available: $74.8 trillion for 2011; R & D annually increased at
20% in recent years; a huge pool of human resources, etc.
- Social consensus: China must invent and be innovative.
- Huge capital stock: investment, not exports, leads China’s economy. It invested
48% of its GDP in plant, buildings, machinery and infrastructure in 2011.
- China’s economy is being merged itself into the world innovation network, i.g.
multinationals have opened 3,500 research institutions mainly in Shanghai and
Beijing. Philips research center in Shanghai has 2,000 researchers.
- More open for open and collaborative innovation.
4.2 Negative aspects
- Short of institutions to train, keep and attract talents, to innovate and respect
innovations, to use its innovation resources efficiently, etc.
- Arguable: culturally, Chinese people are lack of systematic thinking? Few in
China could tell how to innovate in an industry or value chain manner.
5. Opportunities?
5.1 Europe’s strategic thinking: urgency to cooperate with China in innovation
“Europe must act urgently now to ‘lock in’ much greater science and technologyled business collaboration with China” (Dirk Jan van den Berg, Oct 2010)
5.2 Needs from China’s macro economy: the country has to produce much more
for its own people.
Growth area? Urbanization. Investment per square meter in a China town is much
lower than a Dutch one.
5.3 Work with any of the players: Chinese and foreign research institutions,
foreign companies in China, and Chinese companies in Europe.
5.4 Join in bilateral and Chinese domestic innovation programs.
Reference information can be provided upon inquiry
Such as:
- China’s science and technology system.
- China’s policy on talents.
- Major R & D funding sources.