Created in China, how China is becoming a global innovator, reviewed

By @SimonCocking. Review of Created in China, by Georges Haour and Max von Zedtwitz available to buy here.

China has become the world’s manufacturing powerhouse, accounting for around half of all personal computers, digital cameras and kitchen appliances. However, the country is fast transitioning from low-cost manufacturing to a higher-value, innovation-led economy, a critical transformation that is at the heart of this new title.

Companies are the essential engines of the wealth-creation process, particularly in the areas of internet and mobile telecommunications, and firms such as Tencent and Xiaomi are showing clear potential to become major players. Demonstrating strong commitment to the country’s relentless progress in the realm of innovation, the Chinese government has encouraged the development of a business environment in which firms can experiment, operate and thrive. Created in China provides an examination of the critical human factors at play, as well as re-assessing some of the metrics traditionally used to describe and measure China’s capacity for innovation. 

This is an interesting book, well researched and knowledgeable in it’s assessment of China and it’s recent technological developments and advances. It’s a good read because it helps to explain areas where China is doing well, but also clearly explains where you need to look behind those figures and data that seem a little too double plus good. At under 200 pages long it is very much an introductory primer into China and how it is changing the way the world does business.

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We are already starting to see a rise in the quality of Chinese goods produced. There is a relentless logic to this, as they have been building Apple and the world’s high tech goods for years. How could they not then begin to create, innovate and develop their own, generally much cheaper, but not always significantly poorer in quality, versions of the same goods? We definitely found this to be a useful book to read, and one that then opens up your awareness of what else we might see coming out of China in the near future.

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