Title: The development of a national innovation system in China: main practitioners and stages

Authors: Dong Zhu, Jennifer Tann

Addresses: Business School, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK. ' Business School, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

Abstract: The concept of the national innovation system (NIS), originating with economists has evolved since the 1980s as a conceptual framework for analysing technological change and technology transfer. And the NIS approach has been employed by a number of international organisations as a comparative analytical framework. China|s NIS has evolved in three distinct stages: from 1949-1977, 1978-1998 and from 1999 onwards, each stage marked by a significant shift in government policy on technology and innovation from highly centralised control to more market-oriented and collaborative policies. A systems model of China|s NIS is presented which identifies three spatial levels, the Core Level comprising five interacting practitioners. The article discusses each of these practitioners during the different stages in the evolution of China|s NIS.

Keywords: development stages; knowledge; NIS; national innovation systems; technology; China; technological change; technology transfer.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2009.027102

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2009 Vol.3 No.4, pp.325 - 362

Published online: 15 Jul 2009 *

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