How are a nation's achievements in innovation defined, and how do they relate to economic

performance? What are the major features, strengths and weaknesses of a country's innovation

system? How can governments foster innovation?

The OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy offer a comprehensive assessment of the innovation

system of individual OECD member and non-member countries, focusing on the role of policy and

government. They also provide concrete recommendations on how to improve a wide range of

policies that affect countries' innovation performance. Each review identifies good practices from

which other countries may learn.

China has achieved a spectacularly high rate of economic growth over a sustained period for more

than two decades. Nevertheless, today China faces the challenge of making the transition from

sustained to sustainable growth from social, economical, ecological and environmental points of

view. Innovation has been identified as a main engine for this new growth model, and the Chinese

government has launched a national strategy to build an innovation-driven economy and society

by 2020. Will China be able to succeed in making this challenging transition? What will it require

in terms of policy and institutional changes? How will China's emergence as a future innovation

economy affect the OECD countries, as well as the global systems for knowledge production,

dissemination and use?

This report sheds light on these issues by assessing the current status of China's national

innovation system and policies, and by recommending the most important improvements required in

both the policy and institutional environments for China to succeed in promoting innovation through

a market-based approach.