ABSTRACT

In an economy geared towards innovation and competitiveness in research and development activities, interrelationship between the university, private enterprise and government are of considerable interest to academics and practitioners alike. China, in its 12th five-year plan (2011-2015), clearly states its ambition to move from being ‘the world factory’ to becoming ‘an innovation house’ (KPMG, 2011; Cendrowski, 2015). Thus, considerable effort has been made by the government to encourage the cooperation between university research institutes and industries to generate the growth of high-tech and human-capital-intensive entrepreneurial firms that will help sustain the nation’s dream of achieving the long lasting economic growth rate.