ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the progress of China's innovation level and the changes in its international status. It analyses the features and problems of China's innovations. Among the five categories of countries, the first category is the advanced industrialised countries, including the US and the UK. The second category is the European industrialised countries that rose rapidly after the Second World War, including Germany, France and Italy. The third category is the Nordic countries with outstanding innovation capabilities, including Sweden, Norway and Finland. The fourth category is the successful catch-up countries, including Japan, Republic of Korea (ROK), Singapore and Israel. The fifth category is the emerging BRICS countries, including Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. During the period of high-speed economic growth, China has made full use of the latecomer advantages and rapidly improved its technological levels with less R&D input. However, the international competitiveness of Japan's intellectual property rose faster in the same developmental period.
