It’s no secret that in recent years we have seen China’s economic landscape rapidly and significantly transform. Much of this transformation has been ushered in by policy reforms and regulatory changes made by the government in an effort to strengthen innovation and prioritize domestic research and development.
These policies have been working. In fact, the Global Innovation Index—released this July—ranked China the 17th most innovative country in the world, marking the first time the country has broken the top 20. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center’s 2018 International IP Index noted that “China is making concrete progress in building a 21st century national IP [intellectual property] environment.”
While significant barriers to intellectual property protection and innovation persist in China, and implementation remains uncertain, the country has demonstrated a commitment to advancing an innovation-based economy. In trying to overcome the barriers, the country is adopting policies that better protect intellectual property, and investing heavily in research and development-intensive industries. For example, over the past year, China proposed policies to promote biopharmaceutical innovation, including an expansion of its regulatory data protection proposal to include biologics, orphan drugs and pediatric treatments.
While significant barriers to IP protection and innovation persist in China, the country has demonstrated a commitment to advancing an innovation-based economy. The country is adopting policies that better protect intellectual property and investing heavily in research and development-intensive industries.
A recent Bloomberg News story about China’s advancing pharmaceutical sector quoted Marshall Gordon, a New York-based biotech investor with Clearbridge Investments, as saying, “They’re putting the pieces together and they’re doing it at — by western standards — an unbelievable pace and scale.”
China’s recognition that policy reform is a necessary step in spurring and supporting meaningful and lasting innovation has helped the country’s innovation economy become incredibly competitive. As other countries in similar stages of development drag their feet on this front, China continues to climb. If other middle-income countries want to increase their global competitiveness, it’s critical they, too, invest in fostering innovation and truly commit to policy reform that protects intellectual property and incentivizes the research and development that bring innovation to life.
