KnowMade Conference Report (follow the link after the article).
According to Nadege Guenec* The two numbers that follow are crucial to understanding China today, and must be correlated: in 2009 the PRC filed 250,000 patents (almost none in 1987) against 450,000 for the U.S., so many for Japan and 130,000 in the EU (Source: WIPO). Moreover, in 2007 the PRC counted 670 cities on its territory (including 90 of more than 1 million inhabitants) compared with 69 in 1940.
The 90s: Instability and Industrialization
The Chinese government placed heavy emphasis on the establishment of private enterprises in the 1990s . This was geared to encouraging industrialization within a framework of added-value (i.e., "not including assembly"), with the State steering strategic enterprises. Thus, by 1998, the country marked its 1st million tons of crude oil per month while agriculture accounted for only 7% of the territory, with a record amount of pollution recorded. Thus, according to the American NGO, Blacksmith Institute, Linfen, a small town in central China which had been the capital some 4000 years ago, holds the dubious title of world's most polluted city. One consequence of the low quality of life that resulted from such excessive industrialization was great social instability. The party's eroding credibility led the government to initiate broad-reaching innovations to provide a much needed boost to the country's morale. Innovation in social organisation, environmental management and technology to ensure continued development despite the obstacles and continue the work of regaining its position as "center of the world."
Technological development of the 2000s
Scantly affected by the Asian crisis of 1998, China joined the WTO in 2001. It was from the beginning of this decade that the boom in Chinese science began to take place. This "technological leap" is the result of the government's deliberate strategy to turn away from rampant industrialization while embracing technological innovation. This process quickly resulted in an explosion not only of the number of patents in China, but also in a phenomenon of "brain gain" in contrast with the "brain drain" suffered by China during the previous decade, and massive investment in R & D (18 % growth in annual expenditure between 1997 and 2006, against 5% in the USA, Japan 3%, 5% in EU and 5% on average for OECD countries). Meanwhile, the country's industrial thrust held steady and China is now consuming 15 million tons of crude monthly,compared with it barely surpassing the threshold of 1 million tons 20 years earlier.
The strategic role of scientific and technological information
Scientific and technological information in the PRC has gradually begun to play a major role in the fight for its country's conquest of world leadership. It relies primarily on seamless mastery of distribution. This is quite a remarkable achievement in light of the scale of this vast and populous country. It is provided by as many as 60,000 cyber police who track the web looking for all sorts of indiscretions, as by the example of some 4,000 to 6,000 people imprisoned every year for their remarks that are considered contrary to national interests. In addition, publishers are responsible for their content and are thus the first to exercise self-censorship ... helped by Chin Chin and Cha Cha, two amazing (and terrifying?) pop-up figures launched on the screen of users presumed to have stepped over the yellow line. Informing on other users is also encouraged, through sites open to everyone, such as http://cyberpolice.cn.
"Bread and circuses" ... and a few news sites
The country is no exception to this principle of government as old as time. Thus, the use made of a young population of web users is mostly oriented towards games. 80% of 384 million users in 2009 were under 40, 59% under 30 and 31% under 20 years old. In other words, Chinese scientific information sites are not particularly successful with the public. Some sites provide information in Chinese all the same. According to Nadege Guenec, they are unreliable, and they are partially translated into English (www.tydata.com and www.cnki.net). Overall, we could probably say that that scientific and technological information is present on sites responsible for publishing content that is fully controlled for other people in the world (http://french.cri.cn). A certain type of scientific and technological Chinese is still found on sites of professional associations, or databases of Chinese patents such www.sipo.gov.cn / sipo_English, although it should be noted that little information is disclosed on patents by Chinese researchers. In financial matters, things are hardly any better: "financial reporting as such does not exist in China, added Nadege Guenec. To assess the value of a company, one must go quite far in the negotiation process and not be afraid to move forward... before you discover that you were headed in the wrong direction.... "
A strategy that is already causing parades in opposing camps?
Several Western sites have emerged** to counter the opacity of scientific information in China, . They all propose to inform the reader in their own areas of expertise or media position, experts living inside or outside China, foundations, etc. "There is one steadfast rule," says Nadège Guenec, "for penetrating the Chinese business, scientific, and other communities. One must work with a person of Chinese culture and decode the information received from its partners to identify information that will be produced repeatedly. This tends to confirm that they are somewhat steeped in reality."
Ms Guenec continues, specifiying that a strategy may currently be emerging within American scientific and industrial communities who have run up against this veritable wall of Chinese silence. It would consist of limiting the number of patents to prevent the dissemination of knowledge and technology. By thus opposing a Chinese strategy of flooding the world with a huge body of patents allowing it to increasingly dominate the market for new technologies, could a deregulation strategy be taking hold on the global market for products borne of innovation?
* Doctor in Information Science, Nadege Guenec spent 6 years in China both in the French diplomatic corps and within large agribusiness companies. She spoke at a conference in December in Sophia Antipolis on the current state of science in China. The event was organised by KnowMade, with whom she works regularly.
** http://china.blogs.time.com
http://icilachine.com
http://www.objectif-chine.com
http://www.rue89.com/chinatown
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china
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