China: The Shift Towards Innovation-driven Economic Growth

With the «Medium- and Long-term National Plan for Science and Technology Development 2006¿2020» (MLP), the People's Republic of China adopted an innovation policy that aimed at accelerating economic innovation in the country. With this policy, China aimed to shift its economy from one based on low cost manufacturing products to the top sectors of high-tech and services, thus becoming a global leader in innovation. This thesis will assess the impact of the PRC's policies to drive innovation, and answer the following questions: have the PRC's actions regarding innovation made an impact on its economic performance? If yes, has China passed the catch-up growth phase and is it facing a new growth reality? There will also be an analysis of the Chinese innovation environment and of what are the strengths and challenges that China is facing in this new economic posture. The final question will regard whether China's innovation policies and actions will be enough to complete a shift from the status of innovation sponge, a developing economy which is absorbing existing technologies and knowledge from advanced realities, to the status of global innovation leader. Finally, this thesis will present some best practice case studies.