What the world can learn from China's innovation playbook | Keyu Jin
Sep 22, 2023
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Economist Keyu Jin discusses China's unique model of innovation, highlighting the importance of strong institutions, government support, and collaboration. The podcast explores China's transformation from scarcity to technological abundance, showcasing examples such as TikTok and BYD. It emphasizes the need for learning from China's approach and fostering collaboration to address global challenges.
China's success in technological advancements can be attributed to its collaborative innovation ecosystem involving universities, national labs, industries, and significant state funding.
China's unique 'mayor economy' model, combining political centralization with economic decentralization, has played a crucial role in fostering innovation by actively supporting and incentivizing promising tech companies at the local level.
Deep dives
China's Remarkable Technological Growth
China has experienced remarkable technological growth, transitioning from a country of scarcity to abundance in just a few decades. From high-tech innovations to everyday tech, China has become a leader in various technological advancements. Despite being a developing country, China has showcased its ability to excel in technological areas such as EV production, mobile phones, and quantum video calling. China's success can be attributed to its innovation ecosystem, which involves collaboration between universities, national labs, industries, and significant state funding. This approach has allowed China to become a global leader in EV production and other technological sectors.
The Marriage of Local Governments and Tech Companies
China's decentralized economic model, known as the 'mayor economy,' has played a crucial role in fostering innovation from the ground up. Local governments in China actively support and incentivize promising tech companies, offering financial aid, assistance with bureaucratic processes, and establishing entire supply chains. Local governments aim to create thriving tech hubs by attracting companies and building vibrant ecosystems that generate jobs, tax revenue, and enhanced real estate value. This unique approach, combining political centralization with economic decentralization, has contributed to China's innovation success.
Benefits of Mutual Learning and Competition
China's rise as a technological powerhouse has spurred healthy competition and mutual learning with other countries. In the realm of electric vehicles, for example, Chinese EV company BYD has pushed Tesla to innovate further, while Tesla's collaboration with a Chinese battery maker is putting pressure on the German government to invest more in the same sector. This constant push and threat of being overtaken by competitors leads to the advancement of technology. Recognizing that there is wisdom in China's approach does not mean endorsing all aspects of it, but rather learning from each other to foster a brighter future and address global challenges.
In the last few decades, China has gone from technological scarcity to abundance. What sparked this shift? Economist Keyu Jin explores how China has fostered a model of innovation unlike any other and shows why understanding its competitive, collaborative approach could benefit the world -- and perhaps demystify some contradictions.