Chinese R&D Is Becoming More Global

For the last twenty years, Chinese R&D mostly meant “Western R&D in China.” More recently, Chinese MNCs have begun to establish their own international R&D centers, following established location drivers such as access to markets, access to talent, and access to technology. Given the need to support strong domestic (i.e., China-internal) market growth and competition through technological learning, most outbound Chinese R&D investment was driven by acquisition – in contrast to the long-term greenfield approach which allows local R&D centers to build more a cohesive and integrative innovation culture. Rising political tensions between China and the West put additional pressure on the operations of Chinese R&D overseas. To truly benefit from global R&D, Chinese MNCs must build win-win partnerships between international R&D and local innovation ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190900533.013.25