State-led Technological Development: A Case of China's Nanotechnology Development(Article)(Open Access)
- aUnited Nations University-MERIT, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
- bRenmin University of China, Beijing, China
Abstract
We analyze nanotechnology patent applications filed in China from 1998 to 2008 and find that the extraordinary pace of nanotechnology development achieved over that period has been promoted primarily by the public sector rather than being driven by industry and market forces. This finding implies that developing countries such as China with public research capacity and commitment to technological development can make rapid progress in basic research in emerging technologies, but it remains uncertain whether and when local industry can benefit from public R&D investment enough to enable active development of indigenous innovation. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
Indexed keywords
| GEOBASE Subject Index: | developing worldindustrial technologyinnovationintellectual property rightsnanotechnologyresearch and developmentstate roletechnological development |
|---|---|
| Regional Index: | China |
Funding details
| Funding sponsor | Funding number | Acronym |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China | MOST | |
| National Natural Science Foundation of China | NSFC | |
| Chinese Academy of Sciences | CAS | |
| Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan | MOST | |
| National Natural Science Foundation of China | NSFC |
-
1
As Bai (2001, 2005) observed, when nanotechnology R&D techniques were introduced to China from abroad in the 1980s, they were well received by Chinese scientists. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation, and the State Science and Technology Commission (the predecessor of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology) began funding related research. In the 1990s, several important academic conferences held in China, such as the 7th International Conference on Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (1993) and the 4th International Conference on Nanometer-Scale Science and Technology (1996), showcased Chinese scientists’ early participation in the field. From 1990 to 2002, nearly 1,000 projects were funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (or the State Science and Technology Commission). Over the same period, the National Natural Science Foundation of China approved another 1,000 small-scale grants for projects related to nanotechnology. In short, the initiation of nanotechnology R&D in China can be dated to the 1980s and 1990s. Intensive R&D activities did not begin, however, until the early 2000s.
- ISSN: 0305750X
- Source Type: Journal
- Original language: English
- DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.11.013
- Document Type: Article
Huang, C.; United Nations University-MERIT, Maastricht University, Netherlands
© Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
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