Editorial

Citation

Yu, J. (2011), "Editorial", Journal of Science and Technology Policy in China, Vol. 2 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jstpc.2011.43802aaa.002

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Science and Technology Policy in China, Volume 2, Issue 1

The Journal of Science and Technology Policy in China (JSTPC) has launched the publication of its second volume. As the Editor-in-Chief, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge everyone for their support of this journal. In the past year, we are glad to have witnessed the readership of JSTPC extending beyond academic circles to include many international organizations and foreign embassies.

As an emerging economic superpower, China enjoys the edge by virtue of its 1.3 billion population, the great market this population represents, and the creative potential of its increasing scientific and engineering manpower. Advanced science and technology (S&T) are needed not only to maintain economic growth, but also to boost the nation’s international prestige. Recently, frontier research has apparently increased in some leading Chinese institutions; the traditional image of China as simply a producer of low-end and mass-manufactured products is changing. With the fast increasing funding allocated to the production of knowledge and patents, China is making impressive advancements and even challenging the dominating positions of Western countries in some hi-tech sectors.

Globalization has caused intensified debates on its effect on restructuring the world economy and bringing opportunity to the developing world. As for China, the country’s size allows it to explore innovation in different scientific fields simultaneously and compete effectively across many industries and sectors, unlike some other developing countries. Consequently, China would hopefully gain competitive power in a number of areas if it could quickly adopt the appropriate innovation strategies. Recently, China has demonstrated its firm pursuit of becoming an innovative society, and encouraged more and more foreign companies to invest in R&D activities in China; many Chinese firms are also actively establishing their overseas R&D facilities. Therefore, China’s national policies related to areas such as standardization, commercialization and intellectual property protection will attract intense attention and hold broader implications, beyond China’s borders.

There has also recently been serious debate on China’s innovation strategy. How will China reshape the global science and technology landscape? What kind of technology strategy should China have, a follower or leadership one? How should China promote indigenous innovation and open innovation under globalization? Are the mega-programs launched by the government effective in building national technological capacity? What are the low-carbon innovation patterns for the large developing countries? We hope the new volume of this journal can continue the high-quality academic dialogue on these topics.

In this starting issue of the second volume, V.P. Kharbanda reviews and compares the changing orientation of S&T policy in the globalization process during the 1990s in China and India. This paper seeks to understand the trends of scientists from a purely academic to an academic-entrepreneurial hybrid mode to build up strong national innovations systems (NIS) in both countries. The paper aims to do this by presenting the findings from a sample survey of bio-scientists in these two large emerging countries.

Feng Lu and Ling Mu explore the strategy of latecomers to innovation in large developing countries in the globalized competition. An in-depth case study of China’s digital video player industry is presented. The authors find that local firms in developing countries are able to innovate before their firms can match the technological capabilities with those of more advanced countries, and that innovation is the most effective way of learning. They argue that local firms may achieve competitive advantage due to the existence of the national value network, the nature of architectural technology, and the relationships between them in product development. In conclusion, the national market should be considered a strategic asset for technological learning and the local latecomers should also learn how to exploit the advantage of globalization.

In 2008, China implemented a national program, “National Innovation Platforms” (NIP). Jizhen Li, Quwen Deng, and Olav Jull Sorensen conduct a case study of NIP in the textile industry, which leads to significant theoretic implications and discussion on future practice for NIP. The paper finds that NIP is a systemic practice under the guidance of NIS approach, which can effectively stimulate interaction and cooperation between different actors and encourage flow of innovation resources.

In the final paper, D. Varaprasad Sekhar outlines the evolution of agricultural science and technology in China over the last three decades. It has been one of the major factors, besides others, in ensuring comfortable levels of food security. The paper focuses on policy and progress, which have provided the right setting for Chinese agricultural science and technology to evolve into an effective development instrument through globalization.

We are proud of the strong support from the Chinese Association for Science of Science and S&T Policy Research (CASSSTP). CASSSTP is the leading national academic body devoted to the research of China’s science of science and S&T policy. Many scholars affiliated to CASSSTP have given valuable support to JSTPC.

The journal’s uniqueness lies in integrating fundamental and empirical research with policy explorations. It aims to serve the interests of colleagues in universities, government agencies, businesses, and other institutions. The journal will act as an important and influential platform for ongoing dialogue between scholars and practitioners in the area of China’s S&T policy and development strategy. Today, China’s scientific research is taking place in a global context; JSTPC carries on the principle of international diversity. With the joint efforts of its international editorial committee, international review experts and international authors, JSTPC will push forward with the mission of publishing high-quality papers.

We would like to express great thanks to Professor John Adams and other editors for their support. Of course, we would also like to thank the authors for contributing their best research to JSTPC; and last but, not least, our thanks for the excellent support go to the Emerald team.

Jiang Yu