China a 'fertile field' of fresh business ideas

[cirr]

2013-09-25 14:11

China DailyWeb Editor: qindexing

Companies are moving to make their R&D activity more global

China is becoming a true global innovation hub for multinational corporations from developed markets, a survey has found.

Two-thirds of MNCs reported that they are conducting research and development activity in China for foreign markets, and more plan to follow suit, according to consultancy Booz & Co.

Booz conducted the research in conjunction with the Benelux Chamber of Commerce in China, the 21st Century Business Review and the China Europe International Business School.

The China Innovation Survey, in its second year, drew on the views of 264 domestic and foreign companies.

It found that innovators in China are rapidly gaining competitiveness compared with their counterparts from developed economies.

Companies based in China increased R&D spending by 26.5 percent in 2011, the study said, more than double the global average, five times as much as Europe-based companies and 11 times that of Japanese companies.

The robust growth in R&D expenditure is evidently beginning to pay off. About two-thirds of respondents at MNCs operating in China reported that certain Chinese competitors are at least as innovative as their own companies, if not more so.

Chinese companies also said their innovation efforts are competitive with those of MNCs in China, though they still see significant room for improvement.

Companies are moving aggressively to make their innovation more global. More than two-thirds of the respondents said they are conducting product development for the rest of the world in China.

Participants had big ambitions for the future, with 74 percent saying they expect to be conducting global R&D in China for the rest of the world 10 years from now.

The survey found that vehicle manufacturers and computing and telecommunications companies are the most likely types of enterprises to undertake global R&D in China, closely followed by companies involved with consumer goods, health and life sciences and industrials.

"One example of the kind of innovative products is the Chevrolet Sail car, manufactured by SAIC-GM. The latest model was designed and engineered at Shanghai GM's Pan-Asia Technical Automotive Center, and it is exported to India, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East," said Steven Veldhoen, a global partner at Booz.

More than half of the respondents forecast that R&D work in China would offer higher value-added than that carried out elsewhere over the next decade.

"I think it is because China has the most diversified consumer segments and the fastest-changing shopper behavior, factors that propel us to keep innovating," said Zhu Jianwen, the Beijing-based president of the R&D center Procter & Gamble Co, a leading consumer goods company based in the United States.

China-based innovation becomes viable also because of its huge market size and incomparable talent pool, said Shen Yuanqing, chief operating officer of Microsoft Corp's Asia-Pacific R&D group.

"The country churns out some 500,000 university graduates annually with computer science-related degrees, bringing fresh impetus to our innovative work. It also ships the largest number of electronic devices," he said.

Respondents to the survey named Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Huawei Investment& Holding Co Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd as the country's top three innovative companies.

China a 'fertile field' of fresh business ideas - Headlines, features, photo and videos from ecns.cn|china|news|chinanews|ecns|cns

 

[cirr]

Innovation boosts Chinese economic dynamism

English.news.cn 2013-09-26 14:30:13

BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- China ranked third in this year's Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index (GDI), an annual research project designed by the Economist Intelligence Unit to assess the development of one economy's business growth environment.

China's significantly improved GDI, which has risen 17 places from last year, was largely attributed to its commitment to innovation in technology, systems and mechanism.

Reforms and innovation provide an inexhaustible driving force for a country's development, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has said when meeting with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

According to Li, since the beginning of the year, China has been successful in coordinating efforts in seeking steady growth, conducting structural readjustment and deepening reforms mainly thanks to "innovation in macro-management."

To promote innovation in technology, China has spent a record 1 trillion yuan (about 162.4 billion U.S. dollars) on research and development in 2012, of which 74 percent came from companies, official data showed.

Ed Nusbaum, global CEO at Grant Thornton, has said "the GDI shows increasing science and technology activity (in China), which will help sustain economic growth potential by boosting quality, productivity, and efficiency of outputs."

Meanwhile, China has been promoting the use of renewable energy and set a target of 15 percent of total energy consumption coming from renewable sources by 2020.

China has also accelerated investment in railway and infrastructure, and reduced taxes for small businesses to spur growth while pushing forward reforms.

"We are implementing the innovation-driven development strategy at a faster pace, aggressively promoting technological innovation and deep integration of science and technology with the economy, and are building a social environment friendly to innovation and business start-up activities," Premier Li has said at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions.

China also pushes forward financial innovation. The underlying A-stocks available for refinance in margin trade and short selling will rise to 287 stocks from 87 with a total market value of 12.9 trillion yuan, which would improve the two-way trade mechanism of margin trade business and keep the balance between margin trade and short selling business.

China's regulators have also given green light to global hedge funds to raise capital in China, and has opened applications for private companies to establish banks.

"There is more of a push on financial reform and we'll see more tangible progress in the coming months," said Wang Tao, an economist with UBS, quoted by Financial Times.

Commentary: Innovation boosts Chinese economic dynamism - Xinhua | English.news.cn

 

[cirr]

September 12 2013

Internet of Things: innovation with Chinese characteristics

Internet of Things: innovation with Chinese characteristics - Lexology

 

[cirr]

Haidian: Setting the standard in innovation

China Daily, September 17, 2013

High technology district now influencing zones nationwide

As a national innovation demonstration center, Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park has a mission to lead and drive the development of similar industrial parks across the nation, said Sun Wenkai, chief of the Haidian district government.

"It plays an increasingly significant demonstration role in technological research and scientific transformation," Sun told China Daily.

In 2012, revenues from technical transactions in Haidian district of Beijing surpassed 110 billion yuan ($17.98 billion), accounting for 50 percent of the total in the capital city. Most of the technologies were from companies and institutions in other cities and provinces.

Yufeng Pagoda from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) is a sharp contrast to the modern architecture and mission of neighboring Haidian Science Park. Liu Peien / for China Daily

Sun said it is not mere luck that the park grew from an electronic marketplace into a pioneer in innovation and an international center for technology transfer.

Haidian has "the most intensive elements for scientific creation in China and even in the world", said the senior official.

The district is home to more than 16,000 companies working in various aspects of technology, 4,400 of them fully high-tech, 60 percent of the total number in Beijing.

It has arrangements and joint efforts with 33 prestigious universities that provide 200,000 graduates every year. It has more than 100 research institutions that produce a large number of breakthroughs and important technologies every year.

About 550 top-level academics work in Haidian, 37 percent of the nation's total.

"The district government is working hard to create a good business environment that encourages innovation and tolerates failures," said Sun.

"A series of new corporate incubation models are emerging such as our 'Innovation Works' to nurture companies in mobile Internet and cloud computing, and 'Garage Cafe', a low-cost workplace for entrepreneurial startups," he said.

"Haidian plans to be a pivotal economic powerhouse and a truly world-class high-tech center with international influence by 2020, repeating the success of the Silicon Valley," he noted.

Eliminating polluting and energy consuming traditional companies is necessary to industrial transformation, Sun added, so industries in the district should meet the latest global trends and market demands.

"There is plenty room for technical and ecological development in the north of Haidian district," Sun noted.

He said the district government will build a new science park in the north that will serve national strategic emerging industries such as navigation services, next-generation Internet technologies, biomedicine, integrated circuit design and environmental protection.

According to the plan, by 2015, investment in product research and development by high-tech companies should be raised to 6 percent of the sales revenues. The number of granted invention patents is projected to reach 17,000 yearly.

In addition to traditional financing methods provided to large companies and startups, the district's online financing service carries both products on offer by lenders and the needs of companies.

The government has also implemented a stock rights incentive pilot project and also strengthened support for innovation and talent training by establishing a special fund.

Nearly 1.8 billion yuan was offered in 2012. The figure will be increased to 2 billion yuan this year.

Over 80 percent of industrial output in navigation services in Beijing is by companies in Haidian. The district also boasts 3,000 mobile Internet and next-generation Internet companies with over 100,000 employees. They have formulated 70 international and 600 national standards in their fields.

Since China's first privately run technology company was established in Haidian in the 1980s, tens of thousands of high-tech startups and corporations have mushroomed in the district.

"The Haidian government plays a role of paving the way - supports companies rather than restricts them," Sun said, adding that it is the company that plays a dominant role in technical progress and innovation, not the government.

"We will offer help whenever they need, just like a friend," he noted.

Sun and his colleagues will participate in this year's WEF Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, which will kick off on Sept 11 in Dalian, Liaoning province with theme of "Meeting the Innovation Imperative".

As Sun's first time to attend the large international economic gathering, his "main task is to absorb knowledge and gain more experience by communicating with overseas experts to help accelerate the process in building Haidian into a world-class innovation center," he said.

Haidian: Setting the standard in innovation - China.org.cn

 

[Sun Piwa]

Too bad JEWS are ruining everything in Europa & USA with the public debt for their banks.

I'am sure without this vampirism, the world wouldn't have crisis due to the chinese economic locomotive.

 

[Kolaps]

Some people and companies in China are...probably almost, to equally creative and innovate as developed country.

But it still hard to say that the whole society are creative and innovate.

A lot of homework need to be done.