China's Innovation Barriers

Nandani Lynton at BusinessWeek writes:

Innovation is the buzzword in China these days. The mainland overtook Japan this year to become the world's No. 2 investor in R&D after the U.S. The government has declared that by 2010, China will be an innovative society.

And the World Economic Forum's China Business Summit, held in Beijing this September, was stirring with talk of innovation, with panelists highlighting the sharp increase in Chinese patent applications, the strength of mainland companies such as Huawei, and 5,000 years of Chinese inventions.

But there were questions as well. In initial results of the WEF's own competitiveness survey, China languished in 48th place for innovation. The scores for education and health, higher education, and public institutions were also poor, hovering below 60th place.

To read more:

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/dec2006/gb20061215_816544.htm