Although it is no longer a new concept for the Chinese people, the word "innovation" caught unprecedented attention in China after the country released its blueprint for development in the next five years.
Innovation will be relied on as the top impetus for development to steer China into a "moderately prosperous society" by 2020 as proposed in China's 13th five-year plan. Against the backgdrop of a sluggish growth worldwide, China set a bold goal to double its 2010 GDP and the 2010 per capita income of both urban and rural residents by 2020. The economic crises plaguing the developed nations have prompted the industrialized part of the world to rethink their mode of growth, giving birth to Industry 4.0 in Germany, the Reindustrializing America drive as well as intelligentization of the Japanese industry.
This new trend in these countries with advanced high-end manufacturing capacities and mushrooming lower-end manufacturers in emerging nations have exerted double pressure on China which is seeking a new momentum to energize its economic growth. Meanwhile, China is increasingly aware of the environmental prices it will have to pay if it lingers in the labor-intensive section of the global manufacturing chain. It therefore urgently aspires to expand innovation-focused overseas cooperation to better participate in high-level global resources allocation and international industrial cooperation.
This not only serves China's fundamental interests, but also will benefit the rest of the world. More than 2,000 Chinese enterprises have established their presence in Germany. High-tech businesses like Huawei and Lenovo have created lots of jobs while providing German people with cheaper and better choices. Entrepreneurs in Germany came up with the concept of German-Chinese innovative partners several years ago, while China is implementing its "Made in China 2025" plan in parallel to Germany's Industry 4.0 China's experience proves innovation can act as a catalyzer for more efficient global cooperation.
Intelligent mobile phone producer Xiaomi, for example, has been able to constantly update its products with customer feedback, which benefits both its original technology providers from Japan and other industrialized countries and phone parts manufacturers in Thailand. China said in its new five-year plan that it will continue to encourage mass entrepreneurship through major scientific and technological projects, and by building a number of national laboratories with a goal to produce new technologies.
The new drive at home will definitely lead the world's second largest economy to have a surging need for advanced technologies as it gradually gets rid of the backward modes of production. A zealous pursuit of innovation has also brought many Chinese IT firms to the Silicon Valley, where they have convenient exchanges with other renowned research institutions. The world will soon discover a China engaged in more innovative cooperation with its providers and a China providing the world with higher-end products and services.
Latest comments