Six paths to Chinese company innovation

Based on two multi-year research streams involving extensive interviews with both Chinese and Western companies in China, this paper provides a perspective on the emerging paths of Chinese company innovation. We report on what we found to be six major paths to innovation taken by Chinese companies. While all these paths have also been taken by many Western companies, we discuss here the unique Chinese adaptation or intensification of each approach. Our findings indicate that the innovation advantages of Chinese companies may well be in the creative combinations of available innovation practices. We conclude with views on the future of innovation in China and directions for future research.