Description:
China has made remarkable gains in
industrialization and development. Over the past three
decades, it has maintained gross domestic product (GDP)
growth of about 9 percent per year and lifted more than 400
million people out of poverty. Entering the 21st century,
China is determined to ensure the sustainability of its
economic and social development, to which the innovativeness
of business enterprises is critical. In 2006, the government
of China laid out a strategy of enterprise-led indigenous
innovation. In implementing this strategy, Chinese
enterprises must cope with two severe challenges arising
from the current stage of development. First, they must
derive their competitiveness increasingly from
innovativeness. Second, while they are innovating, they must
also create jobs to keep the Chinese labor force employed.
The realization of China's vision to promote
enterprise-led innovation will entail concerted actions by
government, the corporate sector, and the financial sector.
What can the government do? The four basic recommendations
of this report are to pursue a balanced strategy, to create
the right incentives, to build the capacity of the private
sector, and to strengthen the ecosystem for the venture
capital (VC) industry.