Hello Merrill. I agree very strongly. Your brief remarks capture well a lot of my argument about economic growth, innovation and the future of China that runs through my new book, The Chinese Economy, which shipped last week (Agenda Publishing, UK). Innovation is a theme that runs through a lot of the book and comprises half of chapter 6, in which I put forward a model to understand the constraints on innovation in China both in the present authoritarian period and in the Qing.

Most people would agree that innovation is central to the future of China as Xi often states. Without China becoming more innovative and raising the productivity of its shrinking workforce in a rapidly ageing society, growth will stall, so too will living standards and China will fail to escape the middle-income trap. While China has been successful with incremental and process innovation, and perhaps will begin to deliver novel innovation, top-down authoritarian direction of R&D and S&T usually do not deliver the sort/extent of innovation China (Xi) needs. But the openness and the dialogue required to bring forth novel innovations, to foster a Chinese Steve Jobs or Bill Gates and the many others, is simply not there. Having to put the core of Xi's thought at the centre of any project won't get the PRC the innovation miles it needs to address major challenges of making cities liveable, reducing energy while also increasing income, and catching up with the frontier economies.

If you (or others reading this exchange) are interested, Agenda has a 20% discount using the code SM20 on their website. Apologies for the book plug, but it kind of seems appropriate to this conversation. I'm in the early stages of planning a book focused on innovation that will include about a dozen case studies so I would happy to speak to anyone who wants to share their stories of the practicality of managing and fostering innovation in China.