Home>Course>Innovation, Catch-up and China’s Development>CHES2108

Innovation has shaped society since civilization began. Imperial China was the most innovative society on earth, but it failed to join the 19^th century industrial revolution. In the 20^th century, the Communist Party of China (CPC) addressed that failure. Understanding how China manages innovation is critical to understanding humanity’s future.

The aim of this course is to provide a historical account of China’ s modern approach to innovation, technological catch-up, and her future ambition.

Students will learn the modern Chinese approach to management of innovation through a case study method. Finally, an emphasis is placed on encouraging students to take the roles of decision-makers to make strategy decisions for technology catch-up that help China’s industrial management. 

Part One: Innovation: “From doing science to understanding science”.

Week 1: Historical context of management of technological innovation in China (6-Sept.)  

Week 2: China’s technological innovation rise and fall (The Needham Puzzle) (13-Sept.)              

Week 3: Key components of management of technological innovation in contemporary China (20-Sept.)   

Part Two: Catch-up: “From imitation to Chinese innovation system”.   

Week 4: High Speed Rail (HSR) network – State planning for technological innovation (27-Sept.)

Week 5: Cisco and cloud-based education equipment – Entry of MNCs management of technological innovation into China (4-Oct.)

Week 6: Fuyao Glass – Global strategy for U.S. country risk (11-Oct.)

Week 7: Revision and Mid-term examination (18-Oct.)

Mid-Term Examination Week 7, 90 minutes

Week 8: SenseTime Group Business Model and Expansion – Artificial intelligence (AI) industry in China is currently the CPC’s top technology priority (25-Oct.)

Week 9: Redhill Capital strategy in a pandemic – Med- and biotech industries in China are the CPC’s high technology priority after (AI) industry (1-Nov.)

Week 10: China Merchants Bank (CMB) – Light banking, payments, and blockchain (8-Nov.)

Part Three: China’s Development: “From overcoming the middle-income trap to the era of Chinese multinationals”.    

Week 11: China’s technological innovation challenge – China’s economic transformation (15-Nov.)

Week 12: China’s mutual benefit and win-win strategies – Sustainable development of China’s open economy (22-Nov.)

Week 13: Chinese multinationals – Competing for global dominance (29-Nov.)