China's innovation ecosystem has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. At the level of fundamental research, scientists based in China are reaching for frontiers previously occupied only by Western and Japanese companies. Evidence for this includes the rapid acceleration in the number of academic articles published out of China and the number of scientific patents filed there. At the level of moving from R&D to commercial innovation, China often moves faster than the rest of the world, such as in the application of artificial intelligence. As a result, foreign multinational companies need to fundamentally rethink how they conduct innovation for and in China.
In this talk, George Yip, Emeritus Professor at Imperial College London, and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business, explained what foreign multinational companies need to do to transform their R&D strategies to keep pace with newly innovative Chinese companies. This talk addressed strategic issues of moving from cost-based, to market-based to knowledge-based innovation; and tactical issues of recruiting for local R&D staff, dealing with China's intellectual property regime, deciding on whether to bring advanced technology to China, and how to speed up time to market.
Presenters / Session Leaders
The presenters/session leaders for the Center for Emerging Markets China Insights Series are all members of the D'Amore-McKim School of Business faculty and Fellows of D'Amore-McKim's Center for Emerging Markets. All have decades of experience researching, consulting, and speaking on China and China's economy.