From changes in policies to transformations in social economy and people’s lives, and to the shifts in people’s psychological pursuits, China has undergone tremendous changes and obvious transitions over the past decade, writes Ying Xue, Research Fellow of Xinhua Institute.
Stunned by China’s high-tech innovations or obsessed with its cultural products, more people think this old country is getting “cool”. Then how can China suddenly have so many cool things, such as DeepSeek, DJI drones, Unitree robots, fancy EVs, video games and C-Dramas? What did happen in China?
Behind these things that seem to have happened overnight, lies a significant policy shift that began over a decade ago. In the report to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, it was clearly proposed to “implement the innovation-driven development strategy”. Since then, innovation has been placed at the core of the country’s development policies.
In 2016, China released The National Strategy Outline for Innovation-Driven Development, which states: “Traditional driving forces for development are constantly weakening, and the extensive growth model is unsustainable. We must rely on innovation-driven development to build a new engine for growth, foster new economic growth points, continuously improve the quality and efficiency of China’s economic development, open up new space for the country’s development, and achieve the ‘dual goals’ of maintaining medium-high economic growth and moving industries toward the medium-high end.”
Prior to this, China’s economic growth relied mainly on inputs of labor, capital, and resources. However, this economic development model with low industrial added value and driven by production factors led to increasing pressure on resources and the environment, which showed the impossibility to sustain the long-term prospect of China’s economy. Therefore, the Chinese government decided to transform the economic development model, that is, shift it from factor-driven to innovation-driven.
Over the past decade, China has implemented a series of supporting policies for economic transformation, including deepening the reform of the science and technology system, enhancing education, strengthening enterprises’ dominant position in innovation, and improving intellectual property protection. These policies yielded good results. In 2022, China’s R&D investment accounted for 2.55% of its GDP. In 2023, the added value of high-tech manufacturing industry accounted for 15.3% of the total added value of industrial enterprises. China’s ranking in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index jumped from 34th in 2012 to 11th in 2022.
Perhaps more important than implementing policies is the shift in mindset and attitude. As the living standards of the Chinese people improve, people are no longer only concerned about whether they have something or not, but rather focus more on whether it is good or not. Innovation and creativity respond to the diverse and deep-seated spiritual demands of humans, from the pursuit of novel experiences to the realization of self-worth, by breaking boundaries, conveying emotions, and exploring meaning.
Jiaozi, the director of the animated film Nezha, has an inspiring story. He once spent three years engaged in creative work without any income, relying entirely on his mother’s pension to get by. On one hand, this reflects his mother’s selfless support for her son’s pursuit of artistic creation; on the other hand, it shows that the pension of an ordinary mother was enough to cover the daily expenses of two adults. In Jiaozi’s experience, the spiritual joy brought by artistic creativity clearly outweighed material needs. His story represents the life changes of a growing number of Chinese young people.
From changes in policies to transformations in social economy and people’s lives, and to the shifts in people’s psychological pursuits, China has undergone tremendous changes and obvious transitions over the past decade. This is the underlying reason why we see China becoming “cool” today. Although the trend of China turning “cool” has just begun, it will never regress to the era of factor-driven development. Innovation and creativity are now unleashing enormous social potential.
According to the National Strategy Outline for Innovation-Driven Development issued in 2016, China aimed to enter the ranks of innovative countries by 2020 – this goal has already been achieved; China also aims to move into the forefront of innovative countries by 2030, with a fundamental transformation in its development drivers – this target appears likely to be met ahead of schedule. There is a third goal, that is by 2050, China is set to become a world leader in science and technology innovation, emerging as a major global science center and innovation hub. So China still has a long way to go.
Every coin has two sides. Chinese people have to strive to adapt to rapid social changes, which caused a certain degree of anxiety brought about by the ever-changing life. Some elderly people cannot use smartphones. The generation gap between parents and children has widened. Children are becoming inseparable from electronic devices. And rapid upgrading and replacement have also led to some waste. People always need a process to adapt to new things. For most Chinese people, the adaptation period seems a bit short, which is why they are, to some extent, struggling to cope with new things.
Anyway, this is a good era, not a bad one. Who wouldn’t enjoy the novelty and excitement brought by innovation? From this point, China’s development transformation from factor-driven to innovation-driven is successful.
