Description

How are a nation's achievements in innovation defined, and how do they relate to economic
performance? What are the major features, strengths and weaknesses of a country's innovation
system? How can governments foster innovation?

The OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy offer a comprehensive assessment of the innovation
system of individual OECD member and non-member countries, focusing on the role of policy and
government. They also provide concrete recommendations on how to improve a wide range of
policies that affect countries' innovation performance. Each review identifies good practices from
which other countries may learn.

China has achieved a spectacularly high rate of economic growth over a sustained period for more
than two decades. Nevertheless, today China faces the challenge of making the transition from
sustained to sustainable growth from social, economical, ecological and environmental points of
view. Innovation has been identified as a main engine for this new growth model, and the Chinese
government has launched a national strategy to build an innovation-driven economy and society
by 2020. Will China be able to succeed in making this challenging transition? What will it require
in terms of policy and institutional changes? How will China's emergence as a future innovation
economy affect the OECD countries, as well as the global systems for knowledge production,
dissemination and use?

This report sheds light on these issues by assessing the current status of China's national
innovation system and policies, and by recommending the most important improvements required in
both the policy and institutional environments for China to succeed in promoting innovation through
a market-based approach.