Development of Chinese science and technology intermediaries and their integration into the open innovation paradigm

Abstract

In recent years, Chinese science and technology (S&T) intermediaries have grown rapidly to become the important components of the market-driven economy. In this study, we analyse the characteristics of the Chinese S&T intermediary system and government support policies with regards to the S&T intermediaries’ roles from three aspects of the evolution of technology innovation, the enterprise lifecycle and the enterprise R&D paradigm. To investigate the demands typically placed on S&T intermediaries by Chinese enterprises, we have questioned the selected information technology enterprises in Beijing and Jiangsu provinces. Research shows that demands on S&T intermediaries differ between large-scale enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, the Chinese government and enterprises value the S&T intermediary for its function of nurturing the evolution of technology and the enterprise, but overlook its role in open innovation. To address this gap, this research will then help policy makers to better understand how to improve the performance of S&T intermediaries under the open innovation paradigm.

Keywords:

• S&T intermediaries
• open innovation
• China
• policy layout
• survey

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr Zhou Yuan in the School of Public Policy Management, Tsinghua University, for his valuable comments. Furthermore, we would like to thank the members in Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of Jiangsu Province for their support.

Notes

Take the technological market as an example – the values of contracts increased from the 78 billion Yuan in 2001 to 223 billion Yuan in 2007, an increase of 186%. The value of technology service contracts with the largest increase was 265%. Date source: China Statistical Yearbook of Science and Technology [in Chinese]. Beijing: China Statistics Press, 2008, p. 290.

Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guangdong province are the main concentrations of technology flows in the Chinese technical markets. From 2001 to 2007, the value of contracts in the technical market of Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces has seen a relatively large increase. Date source: China Statistical Yearbook of Science and Technology [in Chinese]. Beijing: China Statistics Press, 2008, pp. 291–292.