Recent changes in China’s innovation environment make a big impact on business in Asia.

Recent changes in China’s innovation regime have pushed ASEAN’s IP environment to become an essential component in the global innovation ecosystem. We share three trends in this article: global supply chain relocation, the scramble to transfer IP overseas, and blockchain-powered innovations.

​According to the calculation of the research group of Department of Social, Science and Technology, and Cultural Statistics of National Bureau of Statistics on China's innovation index [1], the innovation index of China reached 242.6 in 2020 (take 2005 as 100), an increase of 6.4 percent over the previous year. By field, the innovation environment index, innovation input index, innovation output index and innovation effectiveness index reached 266.3, 209.7, 319.8 and 174.7 respectively, an increase of 6.3, 5.4, 8.5 and 3.8 percent respectively over the previous year. The calculation results showed that in 2020, China's innovation ability and level continued to improve, the innovation environment continued to be optimized, the innovation input continued to increase, the innovation output grew rapidly, and the innovation results were further demonstrated.

Every four to five years, countries all over the world hold public elections, bringing in new leadership, new trajectories, and movements.

​China is well-known for its unique planned economy – national leadership is not directly elected by the public, but instead indirectly elected through the National People’s Congress. Sometimes it is referred to as a socialist-based market economy. The political leadership then issues a new Five-Year Plan (FYP) detailing the desired trajectory and goals of the government within the following five years.

​In the past month, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), (the regulation body for the internet in China) released notifications regarding user rights violations to dozens of apps.  

MIIT highlighted that these apps have collected personal information beyond the authorized scope and demanded rectification with the coming month.*

This notification is MIIT's continued effort to regulate use of personal information.  In recent months, this tightening control appears to have become a new norm in China's innovation ecosystem.

Intense pressure from the US-China trade war has started a transformation in Chinese innovation: shifting the focus from sheer number to higher quality. The promulgation of China’s 14th 5-Year Plan seals the trajectory of this movement.