Foreign and indigenous innovation in China: some evidence from Shanghai

This chapter examines the contribution of multinational R D activity in China within anevolving policy environment which increasingly emphasizes indigenous innovation and thereduction of dependence on foreign sources of technology. This drive to ensure the developmentof Chinese-owned technology in the medium term is an understandable attempt by China to moveup the value chain from being a major low-cost manufacturing node within global productionnetworks and develop a more sustainable economic model. On the basis of considerable fieldinvestigations of multinational R D centres in Shanghai, consideration is given to both thecontribution of this activity to innovation and the implications for it arising from indigenousinnovation policy. Will there be unintended consequences arising from a policy which usesmarket access and public procurement to capture elements of global R D activity within Chinasterritory?