This project examined the question of China’s future function as a global knowledge producer. The study results show that China has made great efforts especially since 1999 to establish an innovation promotion system which orientates itself on the “best practices” of industrial countries.
Despite a number of more general advancements, which might generate some long term results, the Chinese promotion programme remains severely constrained by a rather non-transparent complexity of actors and stakeholders as well as by a weak R&D role of the enterprise sector. The less enterprise-orientated academies and universities will continue to be the main agents for industrial R&D.
In 2006 the Chinese government announced a strategic “Long-term Program on Technological and Scientific Development”, which intends to better coordinate and focus the activities and to provide adequate funding.
However, looking into the input–output relations, the study reveals an ambiguous situation. The number of patents has increased, but the share of veritable inventions is low. In addition, the majority of patents have been granted to joint ventures.
Basically the R&D orientation of Chinese society and formal education is still utilitarian. It is less oriented towards promoting creative know-how and, as mentioned above, the enterprise sector is comparatively less involved in R&D. These are systemic factors which cannot be overcome in a short time.
Special R&D areas which might be of interest for German enterprises are thus very limited in the foreseeable future. Potential areas are, for example, nuclear energy and the genetic research sector as well as perhaps the (still highly confidential) space and military R&D area. German research deficiencies in the first mentioned areas are tolerated by German society for the sake of social consensus.
In conclusion, much argumentation supports the judgement that China in the foreseeable future will continue to function as a global partner in industrial production and less as a global producer of knowledge for industrial development.
To be able to explore China-specific issues adequately, the Ifo Institute had formed a consortium with a China specialist consultant (Think!Desk China Research & Consulting in Munich). On the basis of this arrangement relevant Chinese and international documents were analysed and on-site empirical research based on intensive interviews (most of them in Chinese) were carried out.
Literature, public institutions and enterprises in China, well informed persons.
G. Nerb and others (in German), Industrienahe Forschungs- und Industriepolitik der chinesischen Regierung (Industry related Research- and Technology Policy of Chinese Government), ifo Forschungsberichte Nr. 37, Munich, August 2007
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