Beijing Diary: Innovation The Way Forward For China

Beijing Diary By Samantha Tan Chiew Ting Bernama's correspondent in Beijing Samantha Tan Chiew Ting shares her take on life in China's capital city. BEIJING, Dec 9 (Bernama) -- The 'Made in China' country of origin phrase found in products sold all over the world appears to be an indispensible generic term for consumers all over the world. Since opening its doors to the outside world China has litterally transformed itself into the world's factory, providing the world with cheap manufactured goods that is accessible to people from all walks of life. Chinese factories that rely on cheap labour and cheap raw materials offer products at unbelieveable prices. However, one will be surprised that the country is still lagging in innovation and is struggling to shed its copycat image. The Chinese are fully aware that they lag in innovation when compared with the West and this is where they have to buck up if they are to continue progressing. DO THE CHINESE LACK THE CULTURE OF INNOVATION? Inspite of the tremendous strides made by China in the social and economic realm over the years, one question remains; why the culture of innovation is not part of this Chinese nation? Maybe the explanation provided by this young Chinese lady who goes by the name Kexin could shed some light why the Chinese are behind in innovation. Kexin, 27, said "since childhood, we were taught to remember things and not to express our feelings". "We need innovation and free thinkers among the younger generation because of the global challenges. Things are moving and changing fast. If we are not creative and innovative, we will still miss the boat no matter how fast we are developing," she said. Another Chinese lady Wang Yaxian, 26 agreed that innovation is the key to China's sustainable development. "Wherever you go nowadays, you can buy things with the "Made in China" label. But what we are really good at are very low tech and simple goods like clothes, shoes, commodities and etc. "They are quite cheap and cannot bring China much revenue," she said. She pointed out developed countries like the United States and Japan own the technology to produce iPhones, cars or a digital cameras that could earn them over 90 percent revenue from the technology and patent, while Chinese companies just earn no more than 10 percent from making their products. "So China should not be the manufacturing factory, it should be the innovation factory, and we should not rely to much on the primary and the secondary industry," she added. CHINA'S THREE PHASE INNOVATION TRANSFORMATION In my view there are three phases of innovation that China has to go through; from copying to fit for purpose, from being mere followers to world standard bearers and from resource seekers to new knowledge seekers. In copying to fit for purpose, Chinese companies have indeed performed well. We have seen how Chinese manufacturers have copied ideas and have come up with compelling household appliances, internet software services, solar panels and etc. However, making a transition to the second stage to become world standard bearers is deemed as challenging. FIVE-YEAR PLAN, A BID FOR INNOVATION Cottage Alliance Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian business consulting firm with operations in China noted that China should generate two to three percentage points of annual gross domestic product (GDP) through innovation. Its director Tan Lin Chung noted that as innovation is the mantra in forging ahead, China has to continue transforming the manufacturing and services sectors particulary through digitalisation and enhancing Internet connectivity. "Additional productivity gains would come from progress in science and engineering based innovation and improvements in the operations of companies as they adopt modern business methods," he added. According to Xinhua News Agency, China's five-year economic plan focuses on technological breakthroughs and innovation as key targets to spur its economy. Innovation includes projects that entail aviation engines, deep space and deep sea probes, brain science, health science, artificial intelligence and robots, and even quantum teleportation. This daring and motivated move stand testament to China's earnestness in becoming an innovator nation rather than copying existing technologies and ideas from others. And that would be China's third phase of innovation from seeking resources to seeking new knowledge. --BERNAMA