Fear not China's creative policy

Contrary to common misperceptions in the United States, China's present innovation policies do not pose an immediate threat to American leadership in science and technology. In fact, the US retains a strong lead in overall innovative capacity, and China still has a long way to go to close the innovation gap.

China's progress in innovation should be seen as a wake-up call for the US. Rather than fearing China, we in the US need to focus our research and policy debates constructively on how this relationship can be improved. The US government and the private sector need to work together in implementing proactive trade diplomacy that takes into account the diverse forces and conflicting agendas that drive China's innovation policy, and in developing a national strategy to upgrade America's innovation system to cope with the competitive challenges posed by China.

Trade diplomacy and national innovation strategy are interrelated, and hence we need to pursue them simultaneously. Corrective action needs to start now, but there is still time to adjust policies and corporate strategies to the new challenges of an increasingly multi-polar global knowledge economy.