(Chinese Version)

Today we welcome the very first T-EDGE Innovation Summer Summit, and we are honored to have Justin Yifu Lin, honorary dean of BiMBA, National School of Development at Peking University and a world-renowned economist as our guest for the opening dialogue talking about entrepreneurships and innovations.

Editor’s Note:

Today we welcome the very first T-EDGE Innovation Summer Summit, and we are honored to have Justin Yifu Lin, honorary dean of BiMBA, National School of Development at Peking University and a world-renowned economist as our guest for the opening dialogue talking about entrepreneurships and innovations.

In this interview, Hejuan Zhao, founder of TMTpost and CEO of BTmedia group, had an in-depth discussion on youth venture with Mr. Lin, with topics ranging from national innovation strategies, innovative thinking differences between China and the US, challenges on traditional industries brought by the Internet, and new initiatives that NSD is adopting to adapt to the new situation. What follows is the edited transcript of the dialogue:

Zhao: Mr. Lin, it seems that the mass innovation & entrepreneurship concept has already become a strong signal from China’s national strategies, which indicates that the transformation of China’s economic structure is deepening. Have you and the NSD noticed such phenomenon? What’s your opinion on this tendency?

Lin: The economy develops as new technologies emerge and industries advance and transform. Right now, our biggest obstacle is the Middle Income Trap. Everyone of us needs to utilize our creativity to bring forth innovations and upgrade China’s industrial structure in order to achieve our Chinese dreams as a result.

Our country is in a different developmental stage now. Comparative advantage is no longer an advantage to us. Many labor-intensive industries in China that used to compete with each other through lowering the cost now need to enter technology-intensive and capital-intensive sectors to find new opportunities of entrepreneurship and innovation. Such sectors now are full of possibilities and opportunities as the technology develops, and they usually require a shorter development cycle and higher cost for technological personnel. These are the exact things China’s good at. That’s why I think it’s high time that our country to carry out the mass innovation & entrepreneurship strategy. It will be a crucial national economic strategy that will make China‘s economy fly.

Zhao: Every year on our T-EDGE innovation conference, we will invite leading innovators from cutting-edge industries from the US to share their ideas and opinions with Chinese innovators and entrepreneurs. Today, we also have many accomplished innovators with us on the conference. Quite interestingly, we found that there was a fine line  between Chinese and American innovators in terms of their innovative thinking. What’s your view on their differences? How much impact will they have on the future competitiveness of both countries? Do you think China’s comparative advantage will continue to help China’s economy?

Lin: China and the US are in different developmental stage. While the US has great advantages in the capital-intensive and technology-intensive industries, we are sill focusing on the manufacturing industry and have other advantages such as low labor cost and low cost for technological personnel. We also have a huge market base and great supporting ability in the hardware industry.

In this case, innovation conferences like this can provide opportunities for both China and the US to utilize each other’s advantages. Cutting-edge and promising technologies from the US can be translated into real products and launched into the market with the help of China’s hardcore manufacturing capability. And China can improve its labor productivity and industrial technology along the way, making other cutting-edge technologies more possible.

Zhao: The surging Internet economy is challenging the traditional manufacturing industry, bringing about risks and opportunities to China and the rest of the world as well. How should we face this situation?

Lin: Internet is a platform. Its strength lies in its tremendous information resource, big data and low communication cost. In accordance with the Internet+ strategy, proposed by Keqiang Li, China’s deputy prime minister, Internet can be used to modify China’s traditional industries, improve productivity, and enhance the interaction between the product and market, increasing the competitiveness of the traditional industries along the way. It’s also a great approach to expand the market and develop new products. I believe if we could fully exploit the huge potential of Internet+ strategy, China’s economy would surely develop much better and faster.

Zhao: After seeing so many successful enterprises in the world, what kind of innovation and entrepreneurs you tend to admire? Do you have any suggestion for entrepreneurs and innovators out there?

Lin: Personally, I admire innovations that push society forward and stimulate personal growth for the hardworking innovators. These innovations can help the innovators, the country, and also society grow together.

There are already many such examples in China. For instance, in the Internet industry, telecom industry, and biotechnology industry, we have been witnessing many successful scientists transforming to successful entrepreneurs, changing the way we live and helping the industries develop and Chinese society advance ultimately.

Zhao: Mr. Lin, have NSD and BiMBA come up with any new initiatives in this new wave of innovation and entrepreneurship?

Lin: NSD and BiMBA will best utilize our resources, analyze successful cases, and compile them into teaching materials so as to teach and nurture more future entrepreneurs and innovators. We aim to fully exploit our educational resources to help carry out the mass innovation & entrepreneurship strategy in China.

[The article is published and edited with authorization from the author @TMTpost , please note reference and hyperlink when reproduce.]

Translated by Garret Lee (Senior Translator at ECHO), working for TMTpost.