China’s universities struggle to turn research into innovation

Summary

China's universities face challenges in converting research into marketable innovations, with a low conversion rate of 8.47% from 2018 to 2020, reflecting systemic issues in incentives and mechanisms for practical application of scientific findings.

Abstract

China's ambition to lead in global technology and innovation is hindered by inefficiencies in its higher education system, as evidenced by a recent audit report from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The report reveals that nine universities in the region had a low conversion rate of research projects into market applications, with only 91 out of 1,074 projects achieving this between 2018 and 2020. The universities also had issues with idle research funds and academic dishonesty. Experts note that China's innovation culture, while making strides in fields like AI and 5G, must overcome a gap in basic research quality compared to the US. Reforms in research talent evaluation and funding mechanisms are suggested to foster a culture supportive of innovation, including tolerance for failure and encouragement of diversity and openness.

Opinions

Professor Xiong Bingqi emphasizes the prevalent issue of low conversion rates of scientific research into practical applications within China's higher education system, indicating a lack of effective incentives and mechanisms.
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) report, later removed, highlighted that the US leads in research quality, with China's performance being uneven and the gap between the two countries growing.
George S. Yip and Bruce McKern observe that Chinese companies excel at cost innovation, finding ways to reduce costs while maintaining quality, signaling China's evolution from an imitator to an innovator in certain sectors.
Professor Cao Cong argues that innovation transcends science and technology, encompassing cultural, mindset, and institutional aspects, and suggests that China needs to cultivate a culture that accepts failure and values basic research.
Professor Huang Yasheng points out that China's innovation system is more focused on applied research and commercialization rather than original basic research, which is why Chinese companies are more successful in areas like e-commerce and consumer electronics than in semiconductors or biopharma.

China’s universities struggle to turn research into innovation

China has ambitious goals to become a global leader in technology and innovation, but a recent audit report has exposed some of the challenges and inefficiencies that plague its higher education system. The report, released by the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, revealed that nine universities in the region had wasted millions of yuan and failed to make real use of their research achievements.

According to the report, the nine universities had a total of 1,074 research projects that received funding from the central or provincial governments from 2018 to 2020, but only 91 of them had been converted into market applications, resulting in a conversion rate of 8.47 per cent. The report also found that some universities had large amounts of idle funds that were not used for research purposes, and that some researchers had paid for ghostwritten papers to boost their academic performance.

The report reflects a common problem in China’s higher education system, which is the lack of incentives and mechanisms to encourage researchers to translate their findings into practical applications. Professor Xiong Bingqi, vice-president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said: “The low conversion rate of scientific research achievements is a common problem in China’s higher education system. It reflects the lack of incentives and mechanisms to encourage researchers to translate their findings into practical applications.”

China’s tech self-sufficiency drive relies on strengthening basic research and innovation, but the country faces a gap in both quantity and quality of research output compared to the US. A report by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), which was later removed from its website, showed that the US had a clear lead in terms of quality, as measured by citations per paper, and that China’s performance was uneven across fields. The report also stated: “The gap between China and the U.S. is not only large but also growing.”

However, China has also made significant progress in innovation in recent years, especially in areas such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and 5G. China has evolved from an imitator to an innovator on its own terms, according to George S. Yip and Bruce McKern, authors of China’s New Innovation Advantage. They wrote: “Chinese companies excel at cost innovation: creatively finding ways to reduce costs while maintaining reasonable quality.”

China’s innovation culture is influenced by its historical, political, and social context, which poses both opportunities and challenges for its future development. Professor Cao Cong, associate vice-president for research at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, argued: “Innovation is not just about science and technology. It is also about culture, mindset and institutions. … China needs to foster a culture that tolerates failure, encourages diversity and openness, and values basic research.”

China’s universities play a crucial role in advancing the country’s innovation agenda, but they also need to reform their evaluation system for research talent and their funding mechanism for research projects. Professor Huang Yasheng, associate dean at MIT Sloan School of Management, said: “China’s innovation system is not really geared towards original basic research. It’s more about applied research and commercialisation. That’s why we see a lot of Chinese companies doing well in e-commerce, fintech or consumer electronics, but not so much in cutting-edge fields like semiconductors or biopharma.”

Relevant articles: - China universities waste millions, fail to make real use of research, audit finds in indictment of tech-sufficiency drive, South China Morning Post, August 9, 2023 - Is China open to adopting a culture of innovation?, Nature, December 7, 2022 - A report detailed the China-U.S. tech gap. Then it disappeared …, Protocol, February 9, 2022 - China’s New Innovation Advantage, Harvard Business Review, May-June 2021

Originally published at https://trendydigests.com on August 9, 2023.

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